
Qass. 
Book 



J ia 



u^2L 



D5A' 



PRESENTED BY^ 



THE 

Early History 

OF 

THE DEVILS LAKE 
COUNTRY 



THE EARLY HISTORY 

OF THE 

DENTILS la.k:b ;,, 

COUNTRY 



IKCLUDING TH£ PERIOD OF THE EAELf 
SETTLEMENTS 




L4RTM0RB, N. a 

if REN TED BY H. V. ARNOUI 

U20 






PUBUSHBR^S BooB?LBrr No. 2S. 



>8tF paonphlets are cot printed in »ny newspaper office, bnt at 
>uf home place instead and on a prcfs that was devised eat 
of a common copy press which priotE only one page at a time 
<on four paged sheets. We use four limited fonts of body 
t]^pe fjom six to nioepciot size, also a small vaiiety ot adver* 
tising t}pe used mainly in prictirg title peges. Some of our 
previous works beating on Northwestern Iccal history are; 

The Early History of lokster, N D., 128 pp. 1916. 

The History ot Old Pembina, 168 pp. I^i?. 

The Early History ot Kaoscm Cconty, 74 pp. igiS. 

Ike kail} Bistoty ot Oiabii I'oiLs, 154 (p. 1918* 



Giffc 

Auth or 

OCT 2? iS20 



PREFACE 

this work WM cootcaplated for scTcrml years before MytblBC 
•as doae to print it. About 1917 the first two cbapteti vert 
worked ofi the press in coojuactioo with two other workt, 
since beiog of an introductory nature they were applicable to 
Ui three, though with some changes in regard to the second 
chapter. Last year this wotk was pushed forward again t« 
page 48, when winter stopped further work on it until spiinc« 

We are not aware as to what may have been gathered by 
any iocal historian concerning the annals of the Detits Lakt 
region, or more especially, in regard to the earlier history of 
ihe city of Devils Lake. We were loid some years ago that 
at least a sketch was in print there. We have not had lh« 
advantage of any local history coacerning the city of Devilt 
Lake that possibly may have been printed, but for the year 
tSSj and first half of 18S3 the old files of the Larimore Pio- 
neer furnished considerable information wbich might have 
been somewhat expanded had correspcndents at the lakft 
exerted themserves more than they did. Such correspondenct 
is now of some historical value especially where writtea fro« 
any settlement long before any local paper has entered the 
same field. Soon after the railroad reached the lake hardly 
soything more was said in the Pioneer concerning Devils Lakt 
aSiirs. With the advent of the railroad the old tint hUtQrf 
•f the lake region ended, for aaew era had begaa« 

JUNS 10^ ffto. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I. 



ihe Sioux— The Chippewa CoDquest 


• 


CHAPTER II. 




Far Companies abd the fur Trad« 


It 


CHAPTER m. 




legend and Fact 


SS 


CHAPTER IV. 




Th* Expedition olJ, N. Nicollet 


•3 


CHAPTER V. 




IJfooi the Forties to dcttlement Times 


40 


CHAPTER VI. 




BackgrDiiiid to the Lake Settlements 


M 


CHAPTER VII. 




Around Stump Lake 


57 


CHAPTER VHI. 




The North Shore and Other Points 


n 


CHAPTER IX. 




Affairs in Eighty- three 


u 


CHAPTER X. 




The Ward Brothers Tragedj 


98 


Appendix 


101 



THE EARLY HISIOaRir 
OF THE 

Devils Lake Countrt 



CHAPTER I. 

THE SIOUX— THE CHIPPEWA CONQUEST 

THE hunter itafe of life in the c«8e of an i»boriKiB«l 
people, hnbituated to the use of stone, bone asi 
liorn iiuplementfi, has ner^r beeo capable of prodocinf 
p, dense population. The latter condition of culture if 
^used upon agricnUure, stock-breedinf. inining, com- 
merce and manufactures. The Indiau tribes of Nortk 
America often had iixed abodes, but were more or le« 
eubject to nomadic changes, moving to other locatiottt 
Dwing to change of season or the necessities of tha 
Sihase. To some extfui the tribes cultivated corn^ 
beans, potatoes, fequash, pumpkins snd tobacee, but 
ihey lacked those cer-eals which usually have attended 
the deteiopment of ciyilizatioi). Where large game wat 
libundAiit the Indians ftub^isted more by the chase. 

It was not often that several tribes became confeder* 
ated together ho hs not to be at warfare with oae another. 
3uch however was the case with the Hix Nations of the 
region of ^ew York ftate, and the Dskotas (meaning 
"allied") or Si«»ux of the Flainf. The fir>t mention ef 
%he country vne^i of the Gre^t Lakes was made by Jean 
Nicollet who wasaent out (H3 an exploffiog ■e2{>ed»tio» 



.-♦.->«AHIiY HISTORY OF THIi PEVII.S LAKE OOUICTKY 

by the authoritieii at. Quebec. iu,lOS9. lu. wLftt is n^wf 
Minnesota he found a people whom other lodiaus cali4<21 
"Nadeweasioux," abbreviftied by ibe biter French ex- 
plorers, traderf) and prientK to Si<»iix, the original term 
meaning eneoMen. 

In 165^ twu. Fietichaveu, (j!roii8ellif id and Kadissoxi, 

frona Canada, penei rated Minneaota iu the iaterest of 

fur trading and spent the fvinter at Mille Lacs amoBg 

the Nadouaaioux whc^nj they represented as dwelliu); id 

forty villages in that iegioii. The numerous lakes of 

the Miile Lacs region ofteit h.nd marMhy shures in whi«k 

grew the "wild rice," ai.d thiH, with the fiah of these 

Jlakes, had some c%niiectioii with thu Indian occupation 

uf that food-givinif f.»nrt oi llk«> country, l^hteron, wbiW 

.Marquette was Bt La I'ointein the Lake Superior regioci 

Ab<»ut 1670, he knew Bomething ot a "certain peopW 

, culled Madouessi, dreuded by their neighbors: aiwi^ 

. ahbcugh they only use the bow and arrow, they use -U 

.with so ouch skill and dexterity that, in a momeni, 

they fill the air. In the I'arthian mode, they turn their 

.heads in flijtht^ and di^ch^^rge their arrows so rapidly 

that they are no let*!* to be feared in their retreat thap 

in their attack." 

• In 168t) Father Louis Hennepin and two oompaniona 
named AccHult and Du day, wrre captured near tlte 
mouth of the VVit-tt)n8in river by a wnr party of tk« 
NadiUHfioux who wt^re descending the Missit^sippi in 
^Hiiofs to attack a tribe of Illinois Indians. The whites 
'h»id been Kent up the Miasisaippi from the Illinois river 
!,by LaSalle to explore it above the Wisconsin in the 
tintere»ts of possible future trading in buffalo hides and 
^tir and. beaver skins. The war party aow returB«C 



THK SIOUX— J^E CHIPPEWA COJCQUEST - ^- 7 

End the captives with their good** were taken to the 
Mille Lacs villHges. bieur du Luth WAa then coneluct- 
ing trading operations in the Lake Superior region and 
being: on friendly relations with some of the Sioux 
tribes, hearing that three Frenchmen were being helct 
aa slaves ul one of their villages, he made a journey to 
where they wtre, procured their release and took them 
to Mackinaw. 

In ways like the inJKtaiic^s ju»t narrated the Sioux 
nation enrly became known to the whites, first to tht 
ITrench of Canada and inu«h later to English travelers, 
euch at» Jonathan Carver. Hennepin mentions the 
division of the Sioujc nation into different named clana* 
There were origiusliy t«eveD bands iu different parts ef 
Minnesota called the "teven coJincil fircM." One of 
Shese bttiidfi were the Assiniboines who dnelt along tbe 
Misfeissippi in the neighborhood of Lake I'epin. Fof 
ioiue caut»e this tribe seceded from tlie Sioux confcder- 
fttion sometime prior to 1634, and were driven out from 
ihat part of the country, ultimately migrating to the 
valley of the river in Canada that bears their name. 

Unlike some trihes of Algonquin stock who cultivated 
corn and t«onie of the more common garden vegetables, 
the Sioux of the Mains subeisted more by the chase, 
pHrticuJMly by hunting the buffalo which roamed the 
prairies in immense numbers. The Sioux best became 
k:iov\n to the American people after the middle of the 
last century and to some extent before that time. At 
that period the principal septs into which they had 
long been divided bore such names as these: Yaukton- 
ftin, VVahpetonwans, Siesetonwans, M'dewakantonwans, 
Wahpekutewans, and Tetonwana. The Yankt^ns aiHl 



^ KApLt aiSVOBT OF Tfi[|C OETHiS i^KB (HKCf|rTItX 

- ■ rr 

Xttont were wide-spread and comprised a few aubdiTi- 
•iooi. Jean N. Nicollei's mnp ot 1842^ places the 
YaoktOD Country west of the Uiviere-a-Jaquea [Jamef 
river] aod south of Miui Wakau Lake, in what is now 
both Nortli Hod riou^th Dakota. Soirie writers called 
thtf tribe the ihaukionv^ans. JBut a<^her}iig lor the 
present to the spellings ou the map, the **Warpetofp 
CouQtry'' is the region along the 8t. l^eter or Mlnisota^ 
Ji;iTer below Big btone Liike. '1 he Sisseton Country lay 
south of the last. The l^rdewakanton Country is placed 
north of the big bend of the St. Peter and west of Fort 
Idnelling aod site of the Twin Cities. The only other 
j:iiou2 region ftbovt n on Nico]let's ntap is the W&rpekD° 
tey Country between the big btnd oi the St. Feter aD4 
^ake jPepiu. Two points on the map are mark^ 
I^Uhlpeway Country." These lie south of Lake Supe- 
rior aud immediately south of Ked Lake. Nieol)e4 
.designated the CQUUtry around Levils 1 ake, which h« 
▼isited in 1839, a "Salt Water Kegion." 

It was the first three of the tribes mentioned tha^ 
made incursions iato the Red KiTer Valley in /ur trad- 
ing days, as far as Pembina, and battled with the Ujib!> 
iways orChippewas, who were their hereditary eoemiea. 
Pther of the Sioux tribes mentioned roamed the country 
to the southwest a« far as the ^'latt river and the Black 
Hills. One of their tribes once Inhabiting Minnesota 
when the state was Indian country were called Tintoc- 
wans, presumably the same an the Tetons. After the 



♦ Thi8 was a map pnblished by tbe gorernment In oenneeCien 
-with tbe work of the Bureau of TopdRfaphlcal Bnglneers. U 
;waB called tbe "Map of tbe Hydrograpbloal Basin of the Up^ 
MisslEclppI Rlrer," and foIde4 IntQ NiooUet'a prlnte<i reiipfi. 



^tablisbment of Fort Snelling, 1819-1823, the Wabpe- 
iODS aud St88etoD8 beeaji making annual journeys to th« 
bead of steamboat navigation un tbe Migsissippi to visit 
tbe traders located at Mendota, nejtr the fort. Tbey 
l^iruck out a trail or ifaveJed route down tbe valley o# 
the Minnesota river, which, however, cut meroMS th« 
great soutberiy bend of the streant bj passing through 
Nicollet county, again reaching the river atold TraverM 
des Siouz. 

lo pu8hiDg their ezploratio^is aiid fur trading opera- 
jftfiions into the region of the Great Lakes, tbe Fre&ch 
became acquainted with variojus Indian tribcB who were 
of Algonquian atoci. Among these were the Ojibway* 
pr Chippewas, dwelling fvoutb of Lake Superior an^ 
west of Mackinaw. 'lh« French traders and priests 
feadily established friendly relations with the tribes 
who were Algonquian. Coiilenporary with tbe rise 
and growth of tbe French fjur trading <jperatioD8, the 
Chippewas increased in strength and snmbers and be> 
gan presiiing westward upon the domains of the 8ioux> 
Their progre«8 was partially along lines of latitude, 
iben more or less characterized by forest belts. Iq 
their contests in the timber they were uniformly victo- 
rious, but when it came to fighting in tbe open country 
the Sioux generally had tbe advantage. The Chippe< 
was had the earlier became f^uppHed with fires rmt^ 
beside«, had received accessions from other Algonquiao 
tribes who had migrated from farther east. 

Once began the strife between the contending tribef 
jnras doubtless long and bloody. The Bioux probably at 
last wearied of being attacked, and anticipating do end 
to tbe strife so lopg ai they apd the CbippewM cootioo^ 



10 KAELT KiaTORY OF THB Dl?YirS LAKB COUNTRY 



fd to occupy adjoioin^ regiuiiK, decirled to abnudon the 
region now conaprised in naribern Minoftsota. Tbejr 
theiefoi"e dispersed thein?(elve« along the Minoeeota ritef 
^xpellintr the lowaa from the country immediately to the 
aouth ot that fltreHUi. These cvcr^ia occurred about 
1760. Onrvcf found iheic located on the Minnesota ia 
1766 and pasaed the winter amoD^ them. 

For ten or twelve .yeHra following the abandoBDieat 
by the Hioux of the i»ke r^cion of siorthero MiDoesota 
it wa« not occupied by the c hippewan except (or oeea> 
«|onfiJ huDtitig purpohe. In the meaotime the Biooz 
«ppeHr to have encuiirnged the OsaukieP, the Baes %nA 
Foxeg, tt.id Kick»i'<x)n, tribes dwelling in \VieeoDtiB» 
to take pos^essicn of the df*>ert,ed territory, and tbey 
Koop did so. For tt while, with nome ?tp#i8tance from 
the Siuux, they muiuti»infd rlierreelyes there. But tb^ 
.Chippewaft resented this occnpatiop of territory wbicb 
they considered Jtheirn by right of conquest, and com- 
bining their banda under a chief called White Fi6ker|, 
they ^ave battle to the inter lopera near th,e falle of tb« 
St. Croix. The offending tribes made a resolute stand 
but were defeaieil an«i fled down the river. Nor did any 
other tfibea iheieafter save the Chippewas themfielTjm 
eeek to ' c cupy t>«e vucRtfd country. 

In aucceedjrig years the OhlppewnM began to prtaa 
lyveatward through ncrtb^rn Minuesotji, reaching Bed 
)Hke and the Ked River Vj'lley nbove Pembina. There 
being no opposition to prevent them, they ultimately 
carried their away to the Turtle Mouutainaand beyond. 
During the same period the Sioux tribe*, lured further 
westward by the abundance of the buffalo, elk and deer, 
jiflvanced into the Dakota^ and became more than \i^ 



•f aw mo<;-:ii^TUji. osmrmm^ ed-^QUEsy M 



^ore, a praino t>eopi». ihti© dwt-Unloi.g the bhejeuiije 
,nver H tribe cnlled ^haw■HV^ or .sIveyenueH ((rom whom 
tbestreHDi wa« naiuetl) ui,ii i^^t^^^f iLfciMoux alUcktdRad 
.^rore to tLe Muilhwe^i, Kcron* ihf ^lihsiuiri river. 
''*rlie Cotiuiry ce:n,|»rj*ad :iu Ui« i:]u{4kt'wa couqueut 
from the »ionx not oiiJy uirlutt^d nmni of nonbern 
MioQesoU but a con«iderabie fc^ettiui) ol Xorth iJakota 
,a8 well. The tract g&iiied by tbe«» m ibis etaiemaj b« 
sketchfcd ag follows; Beguiiiiii^ o« the 3Bten)AlioDai| 
boiahdRry the Ked riytr lor,fr;td its ea^i line a,} Jar 60Ui^ 
&k the iiiuutL oi :Goo£e rivti ; tbeuce up thai etreaut anil 
i't^' south fork to JJeyiis laiie; thence through the lake 
^o it« western eud; ub.eu.ce west hy «ouih about 90 niile^ 
to 'Maison du .Cbitxi or iJtcg'a Utu, a butle on the eaat- 
stu side of the MiKsowri coteau .{iii Mci^an Conniy); 
thence west by north to n point on the !Mii^fi»uri near 
the mouth of Little Knite nyer, thence nortJ»erly to the 
intercationai boundary and eastward along that line to 
the place of begiHuing. Some of the Chippewa chiefs 
claimed the Cheyenne as a part of their siaithern bouudr 
ary but the territory between the tioose apd Sheyenne 
jiver was rather more of the nature of a border land or 
ijommon battle ground of both parties Neither the 
Indian or the half breed population who gathered aboat 
Pembina, Oevils lake and the Turtle moantains wei^ 
^imited in regard to a buffalo range. 



CHAPTER II. 
FUR COMPANIES AND THE FUR TRADE 

FROM about the thirteenth ceuturj there arose in 
Earope among the higher ciasfies an increasiDg de** 
mfiltid for furs of the finer sort. ADimals that furoiBl^ 
the u)o»)t valuable fuis are denizeuB of either cold ^ 
coM ttniperate regioca of the northern hemisphere. 
The European supply of furs h«d mainly coB)e froiw 
the regions arcund the Baltic and Black sean, but the 
taking of Constantinople by the Turks in 1458 intcr> 
rupted trade of h1) ktudfi b«twet>n Europe and the £••!« 
Id a l«rge measure thf old trade routes to and from 
^he Orient were permanemly disrupted. Jn the seyeiK 
teenth century the chief moiiva that led the Hu^fiiaos la 
take possession of Siberia was to acquire a country from 
which rich stores o<" valuable furs might be obtained. 

When voyages began to be made to the northern 
Atlantic coasts ol America, but more tspecially when 
fettlemeota began to be established on the bays and 
along the tide water rivers of the seaboard plain during 
the flrat hrtlf of the seventeenth ceninry, the fact began 
to be rcc<.rgnizf(^ that the grent wilderness regions oC 
jyorlh America must be :«. storehouse of valuable hides, 
skins Hnd furs owing to the large variety of animals 
that were denizens of the forests and swamps of the 
continent and with the skins of which the aboriginal 
inhabitflnts clothed tbempelvfs. The l>utch who had 
located on Manhattan island and along the Hudsoi) 
paid considerable attention ^o bartering with the Iht 
diansj but the territory t>om whi^b they drew supplies 



wxm Q«)Bt>A»i]B6 A«^ Y&s rcTB TBAms y^ 

<wa8 not e2tent>ive. lu New ED{(iaud some attentioii 
fraa given by indiTiduals to the eulleciion and shipping 
^f furs tu Eiiglund, but the coWniBis in general cared 
^itile lor xhe butsiiiett^; mort^ovtr, their relentless anni- 
Ikilatiun ot aiuuusi whol« tribes elimioated in that Bet- 
lion of the cuuntr^' one ol the principal iactora of th« 
iut trade, it has been said that the Indians nielttd 
ui?a; ijom contact with the Anglo bason race like ib« 
Iroat before the south wind. 

On the other hand, the geographical position el inh 
jPreuch on the lower ;bt. J>Hwrence, the northerJjr ]aV- 
ittidd in which their feeitleuiente were made, their easy 
IKCesB to the Great LiiiieH b^ natural waterways, ibe 
aiuBost nulioiited scope oi territory' thai lay opes te 
•beca to iht west ot Candida, combined with a natnrai 
urociivity vt establishing and maintaining friendly 
leiations vrith most ot the Indiau tribes with whom they 
<c&me in contact, gave them special advantages in secur- 
ing the bulk oi the fur trade prior to about the begic- 
;ttlng of the last century. 

In the Witter half of the seventeenth century the 
Aaaeric&ii fur trade had become well estjiblished. The 
French pushed into tbe new regions of the west with 
persistence and uaring energy. It is evident that one 
of the leading motives of LaSalle in securiug the line 
of the Illinois river and building lorts in its valley, laj> 
in the quest th«n being made for beaver skins and bufr 
falo hides. Tbe fur trade of the iirencb evolved the 
'♦coureura dea boi»" or rangers of the woods, and the 
"Toyageurs," canoe or boatmen. The first were origio- 
liliy traders who made long trips to the Indian country, 
pometimea to be gon^ a year, bvt ia cot^rse of t|^«t^ey 



•ame to adopt, ic a meH«:ure, Indian ways of life umd 
drevs. Many of them took lodian iwiveB and the raoe 
of hallbifeds thus iaad tb^ii beginuiiij;. The iiuinber 
9f the coureurs dfcs bois was increased Houiewbat by 
yagrants wbu preferred tbe freedom of tbe woods to 
the iestrMiBt» ot piyiiicatiou. As a Hpecial class they 
l^eanie useful in variuuH wa;s io cunueatioo with the 
fur trade. 

Tbe Jesuit and FrML)ci5€an mif^siooaries accompaBied 
or followed in the tra<cl( of the early eipeditioDs, winh^ 
leriog t<> tbe sick apd tbe wounded and receiving tb« 
«0Dfei*sioD8 of tbuke who dit^d far fron; boHte. Thtj 
also establiiibed ii<iK»>ioi)i< for ibe lBdiui>»«, as at J)etreit, 
MicbiliiDacinack (iVIitckiii&« ), Cireeu hay »h6 LaFoiote. 
They were men of bonorKl meirory, sopie few of whom 
have left their names attached to counties, towBS BwH 
/cities that finwe into beiii); long after tbeir time. 

During the French regime in Canajda tbe policy of 
tbe governors (general was that of looliing after ibe 
{Operations of tbe iur traders. To legHlIj engage iia tbe 
business of the fur trade, tbe tr«der»< were soppesed t<» 
carry a governpient license, otherwise they were iia^)I»» 
to have any Mtock of fuis they might brinj dow» to 
Quebec &ei?ed aud contiscatcid- '1 bis license tax od 
their business the traders would evade if they couW. 
LaSalle accused Sieui de Luth with trafficing with (Be 
Indians in ao unlicensed mannier. The sale of spiritp- 
oua Liquors to the Indians was strictly prohibited. 

In 1656 the two adventurers, Badisson and Grosseilr 
Iters, hn ugbt down to Quebec from the region of tho 
iifettt Lakes a flotilla of canoes maoned by Huron 
todiaB* ^utd»Ud&D with tv^ra. Thej|r «er« anlioeDiM 






traders aod besides the liability of having tbcir stock 
of furs coofiacated by ihe CanadiuQ officials, were also 
liable to b« punifihed lor violatiuu of the law. But the 
^^occasiou for trade just then being a matter of isDpof" 
tance tu the lnhabi;uni8 of Quebec, the affair was wiak- 
ad at by the aulhoiiiibA aiid the liceofled traders, hu^ 
tor that time only. On a E^iiuilar visit to Quebec fovr 
je&rs Iftier, iheRe trnderK had their large stock of pelt- 
tries seized by the authorities and confiscated. 

Thereafter the two advehturtra seem to hate be«» 
ready to circuznveiit the auihoiilies hy some method of 
-optiiing trade wit-b liie huglitth by way of HwdsoD Bay> 
the shores of which the -English claimed. They tried, 
kowever, to induce the nieFr.bants of Quebec to send a 
▼easel to the bay, having presumably gone in that diieo- 
'tipn about the year 1662. Neit they went to Boston n^nd 
(it certain Capt. Gillam is itaid to have made a voyage to 
the buy. The adventurers then went to France wbertr 
4hey are believed to have gotten letters of intioduetioH 
to persons of note about the court of ^Charles II cf 
England. One result of whatever .tronterenceg were 
held was the forming of a company to trade in Budsois 
;bay. This WHS about 1667. In 1668 the company sent 
two ships to the bay one of which with Kadissou aboard 
^ever reached it. The other commanded by the Capt. 
fGiilam before mentioned wintered in James bay. A 
4rsding post was built near the mouth of Rupert river 
^nd considerable trsflicing ws» done with the Indians 
lo 1669 the ship reached England. 

The company now sought to obtaia chartered rights 
«which the king the more readily granted since himself 
and brother, the iJiuka of Yoik^ ^ad UkkiM> #tf<^.Ul t^ 



16 BAJlil'1r^'^xB9^0Bx «ir iuil ^sTftA^kirk cowtkj 



•uter prise. The company cuiiMiited of thv king, <iukt» 
jPrinte Kupert and t\^«lve other members. The cbsrMr 
\fiM dated May 2, 1670, and designated the asBOciatiqy. 
as '*The Governor and Company of Adventures of Kuj^ 
1ai)4 Trading »viih Hu<Uon B»y," but they came to h% 
known an the HudHon Bay Company. The charter veii- 
Md tke company in the onuerohip of all the territory 
•rained by rivorn which itowed to HudROU bay, tbic 
territory to he called ltU(.'ert'K Land. Tht soverDKi^sl 
•^an through^ governor und council responsible tb'tbe 
•row I) for a proper MdminiMtrHiion of affairs. 

'For a long peruid the anenix of the company tloi^ t» 
tlie shores of the buy and inadenoefforl to establish ttA^ 
iug posts in the interior, of the country. In fifteen years 
^Uer the charter was given them the ccnipany h«d «r^ 
ta^lisiied only fiveipostf, nil on the thorns of the bay„ 
Tiieir policy was to encuura^e the Indiahs to brieg their 
'peltries to the posts on the shores of the bay. Other 
■Lips weie sent to the bay from time to lime, one of 
which had Kadisson on board who succeeded in reacV 
ingliis dfstiiiiitroi) MiiliMt Veil g tun €d baek by iIkj 
closing of the passage into the bsy by ice. 

In 1690, the ^Stuarts having been expelled from Epg- 
land, the company a^ked of d'arlia-nent a confirmatiaif 
,of their charter. That body would only consent that 
'the company 'b tenure should continnt >eveD mortyeai^ 
jifter which the charter M)lgh( be annuUed. When that 
time had expiied tLecon.pei> did mi h*k for any re- 
newal, seeming to dread any thing that wouW direct 
public atteation toward them. However, some one 
cali«-d tbc attention of FarlifiDiem to the, matter as ao 
Ju'iidesirable monopol/. At that tiin« JCi:|£Und ii)Ud! 



mf-M GoipcrAirias ^tr^ tvB tvb tmawm If 

f'rance were at war and the members had other thinga 
lodiacusa, •• that the Hudson Bay Companj matter waa 
4 led awaj and forgotten, ajid hence the company's tern- 
>are of the territory they claimed reatained undisturbad. 
Had it been otherwise the question might have ariseii 
in FarUament as to the right of Charles II to give away 
territory which included lands wherein no JEngliihrna* 
^d t^eu set foot, the extent of which was unknown. 

Oaring the first two warH between England and 
France in which the American colonies were inyolTed, 
•ome of the H^udsou Bay <Cujn.pany posts were taken 
#Dd held by the French of Canada. By the peace of 
IJtrecht signed iu 1713 ttieae were restored to the Bog- 
linh. The goverivor and council. of the company were 
chosen from among the members and resided in L^ondoB. 
At least annually a ship viMted the bay to bring back 
the cargo of furs that the potJ^ts had collected. The 
principal post whs iocai&d at the mouth of Nelson riTCf 
<And called York Factory. The |)er8on is charge of a 
post was called the chief factor. 

The most conspicuous personage of the second quartei 
fOf the eighteenth ^c^ntur} who was engaged in ejiplor»- 
tionacd lur trading went <»f ih^e Ureal Lakes, wasFierre 
'Gnultier Verennes, otherwise knouii asSieur de la Ve- 
rendrye. He wa« a ^o|l i.f a na^istrate of Trois Rivi- 
eres and young in life entered live military service. J» 
^ueen Anne's war, 1702-17 13, he raw som^) active ser* 
vice, taking part in a denionstration against Kew Eng- 
land in 1704. Two years later he went to France 
^o participate in the war rn Furopean Foil. Later i|^ 
life Verendrye is found actively engaged in building 
trading posts ojb 3ed ^iifef an^ thf AMi j^ Jh uaj i^ fl «od V^ 



WJ EAJSLT mSTORT OF THfr UKTIXS LAKB COUNTRY 

aearching for the "Shinir.jr Mocntaint*," beyond ^hlek 
was ftupposed to lay the Pacific Oceao. 

lu 17^8 Verendrvd re-ttstablighed an abandoned poal 
iit Take Nipigon, In 17IiO he waa viwited there by a» 
AsMiniboine chief jiaaied Uchngjich, imd ng a result of 
InquirieM made by Verendrye in regard to canoe routes 
to the chief's country, the latter drew a rough m lip of 
the ]akp8 Knd atream?* iMt-ivpninK between the head of 
^^ake {Superior nhfi tUf KetJ Kiver Valley. Vefendry* 
,took thin map to the C4».T«rrror of Canacla «Dd it retail Iteii 
ill the explorationH ,c<>aductfd inter by Verendrye, bUt 
sons and nephew, J^erenmye. A stioDg incentive to tbeie* 
operations Maa the mdenTor to dipcorer some sort of 
waterway that wxuild lead to the Pacific Ocean. 

Verendrye organised a fur company in Montreal and 
«t hi« own expense both J»ent and led expeditions into 
the Lake of the Woods country and the Red Kiter Vair 
jjey. Post* were built at the lake mentioned, at Rainy 
lake, at lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba, at the mouth of 
the Aasinibolne, and one near the site of Portage la 
Prairie in 1738. Their trade was mainly with the Crees 
and Aisiniboines. This wah entering upon and exploit- 
ing a region covered by the gnmt of tbe Hudson Bay 
4^ompany. Verendrye died in 1749, but the French 
continued to occupy the c^ujntry iuitil the fioglisb con- 
quest of Canada in 176(0. The fur trade in the fallen 
then languished, passing inn» the hands of individnali 
traders 'Ihe po^ts that the French built south of th^* 
international boundary were t,he two in the border lako 
region, Fort de Bois Blanc (site of Past Grand Fork*^ 
and probajbly one opposite the mouth of Pembina rivejf. 
The Hudson Bay Company had oeglectod to puab tbelf 



TVlk V^MS'AMftKS 4N^E> T»9 T^% TBiJKt If 



9p«ratioQ» into the interior anu so the French eomiag 
in from CRnad«, bad T«^f a a^Wsintage oi the f«ct. Ot 
iwcount of ;he pr«»«eDce ol the French in the Red aii4 
^n the ^pfirJboJiif Tallejf«, the English built a trading 
post In 1742 <:n A Ibitny river about 150 miles above iU 
mouth. Iii H do?:er* or more years Verendrye accom^ 
ptisbed aVi&p»t as xnuvh ua the great company had donfli 
5ci 70 years. 

Duriajj the period aher 1760, owing to the Engli^k 
jonquest of Canada, the fur tr?jde aa <!arried on fro» 
Jhat proTJace, was conductfd by individual traders. 
These sn^c competed with one another and sold liquor 
io the Indians. Matters in these reapeetfl^rew lax and 
a train of abu^^es was engendered. To remedy maiterf 
In some measure, and to prosecute the fur trade io a 
more systematic ;r.anner. j^.everal mer.chnnt^ at Mont- 
seul formed an association called the ''Oomftagne dn 
^ord Oueat," or Northwest Fur Coinpany. Thie wae 
vorganized in 178o and four years later they absorbed a 
lival company ol fur traders. This principal partners 
^ived in baronial stylie nt Montreal and Quebec; tben^ 
-besides these ,tb«re neie junior partners who resided at 
the trading posts in Abe fur country aiut looked after 
■the busineas o( the company. 

The NoribwfjBt A/ompfiny, as it came to be called, 
followed a ctifitrt^iil pcli.cy tlmn thfit o! the Hudson Bay 
iCompiiny. They «ent their agents into the lodiact 
coucny and built posts there. By the year 1787 they 
had begun to conduct operations in the Red Rivef 
-Valley. Their principnl post was at Kaministiqniaf 
later called Fort William, on Thunder bay of Lakf 
Superior. After the pompany had becoin;^ v«U *«tB]b' 



ffi^.vjij'.vf miwxonrtov i:he Dsrits lakb govvtkv 



Mnh^d in l)ir n1•rtLwe^U^n vouiairj, the snnual gatker^ 
iug of tbipir officeiH nud -^ n pic yeeR were held there 
during; each fi\4cc«e<itiifr Mutumi). Feafttiog, ^rinkiog. 
revelry, %ith occBsianxIbriiwlu, chnracterized the 4fh 
ioga ot \ht pUc** for h number o/ dayi. The cobubob 
t^pK^yee? <>Ue» »(pe?'t their year's earnings io Hqnef,^ 
And in trinketfi, gewgawt* ard finery for their JndU^ 
wirea. 

A traveler calif d (<*UDt AdttKDi visited the coaotry 
in 1791 nnd represented that u>o6i of theai had heeoBi» 
t^ound to ftervice by reason of their indebtedoees te t^ 
eoinpHiiy pout* for goods received. Many of tbeee •»- 
pl^yeei were halfbreecl?, comirtr)}' called Boie Brvlef 
or "Burnt Wood.*" on accduot of the color of their nkii. 
But tiio men, whether baHbr»^fd8 or iJihitcB rather liked 
ikeir CO I r.9< lion with the ivr trading bueinere, though 
,o» the tnhole a rather hard ^ojrt of life be^et by nuip^r- 

An individual trader who»e tiaBie ii» koI new k}t««n 
, Rppearo to have be«'ii located Ht PeBnbiMa in J780. He 
was a Canadian Vrepcb&»i» and was f<'ni)d Ibere 4& 
years later by Mpjor lonp'j' pnrty. It should not be 
!iVppoffed that he Djaintsined a coctinnous jefii^ieDee »» 
.Fembica hince the trnden^ charged about cocasionally^ 
Other f.er^c'l)^ cf Tvbom we hnve accountp a*» trading Ip 
the valley prior to It'CO, vyi^i^r to b^ve been iiitheaer 
vice of the Northwest CompnDv. Peter Grant kuilt * 
poRt opposite the mouth of Pembina river where the city 
of St. Vincent now ntunds, in 1794 or 1796. About W 
a trader named Chaboillej: built a post od the weit sid« 
pf Bed river and just »outh of the irotitb of Penbine 
riyer, which he called Fort Pauhiao. ^ose oflheM podt» 



SUB OailPyXIXS AMD THE FUR TBABB 2% 

I ;■ ■" ■' -- 1 ! ■ ' . ' I III I I.I.I I 

ftboat Feosbina were continuously occupied. Tanner 
4tftt«e Shftt wben be aud Chaboillez came tbere, no In* 
^aA8 or wbites were reMidiog there. Then three yeara 
Uter Oapt. Henry found the place deserted. 

Farther up Ked river there were three other trading 
poniB, two on the we^t and ene ou the eaatBide. Onewaa 
called KoyN ?}nrthwfgt Company post, which was at the 
mouth of Biic Salt (Fore»t) river, maintained fron 1787 
io ISOO. David Tbompeon, aftronumer and geographer 
af the Northwest Company, on his way to Cass lake, 
stopped with Roy March 22, 1798. The other west side 
post WHS »t the mouth of Turtle river where the village 
of Turtle River is located. A trader named Daniel 
McKenzie was in charge of this post from 1787 to 17^9 
when he left it to ^o to another post, when it was aban. 
doned. The third or east side post north of the month 
of Red Lake river bad been called Fort de ik>i8 Blanc 
(the Whitewood fort), but probably in the last decade 
of that century it was li:D(»wn aa Grandes Fourches. In 
1796 it was occupied by J. B. Cfidotte Jr., and then th» 
place was abandoned as a tradinir point niitil Captain 
Henry's time. 

Tiiree other companies that conducted operatioua In 
the Ked River Valley msy be nientioned. The findeon 
Bay Company began to trade in ibe valley abool th« 
beginning of the last century and vwiog to somedissen- 
tions Alex. McKenzie and others formed in 1801 a new 
fur trading organization ceiled the X. Y. Company, 
so called because these letters c'ame next after the W 
in North West Company, meaning too that they niean| 
to follow that company with sharp eompetition. Trad^* 
|Dg houses oDw bepame iccre ovcoerotM than before, 



2S fcAKLY ttiHTOKY OF THii: ]»SYIL8 LAKK COVKTBT 

{>t 1605 thii< (trgHniKHtion wue merged iuto th« Norlli* 
'.veil (\>mpany. 

A Inxe formed Aii80ci»ciotj whs called the Colvmbla 
t^ur Company organised by Joseph Kenvilleaud othera 
in 18-2 owing to the uniting of the North weai aod Uudr 
'oD Bay coDipaniea tlie previous year. They made UM 
of the discharged employees of the Northwest Compaoj 
who numbered about 900, and established their head- 
quHrterB hK Lake Traverse. 

Another association, organized in 1832 was called tha 
American Fur Company. Their headquarters was at 
Bt. Louis from which place steamboats were sent up tka 
Missouri river, along which they had trading poeta i» 
the Dakotas and Montana. Joe Rolette traded for fiiiv 
for this company at Pembina. 



CHAPTER III. 
LEGEND AND FACT 

TH£ oame commooly applied to the body of water 
called DeTils lake, hb is well known, comet from 
Biiftaking on the part of the whites the Indian signift* 
cation uf the name ther gave it. The Chippewas call* 
#d the Uke Miineto Sahgiegun, which the private ink- 
made maps of the Northwest Fur Company (kept secret 
(rom the geographers of civilitatioii) translated aa 
"God's lake." The Canadian French hunters, trappera 
and Tovagers of the company, however, being babitaal*- 
ly a profane class uf men, spoke of this sheet of water 
as Lac du Diable, of which the objectionable modera 
name is simply the ED^tish rendering. As before oty- 
served, Nicollet's map has "Mini VVakan Lake" from 
the name in use among the K^ioux, and here it is time to 
abserve that the word "wakan" is said to have the sense 
of our word "mysterious" (probably in relation to the 
mirage) so that in the Sioux language their name lor 
the lake signifies "mysterious water." 

Another Htatement is to the effect that the Sioux word 
'Vakan" means anything bad and that in regard to the 
lake it referred to the quality of its water which isaom** 
what nlkaliue. More Hatisfuctory. is a brief legend 
which we find printed in Vol. I of the coUectiona of tl^ 
North Dakota Historical Society, as translated from its 
^ioux form, proably a writing oi the Fort Tottem Indian 
School, by Father Jerome: 

"My father lived on the lake-shore near what is now Mianc- 
vaukan town, as eariy as(85X. I was born 'there in 1863. 



M &mi.T kilATOliJ OF TUE DKVlUi LaKKOOUNTBT 

^J father told me of an isUod which ased to be there. Sinca 
l^e lake has sunk this islaod jx bat 9 point of land. Ona 
ttight io tummer wheo there was no moooH|[ht 9^^^ darkneu. 
wat so thick that the island could aot be seea from the m^in. 
kftd» Itraogt sounds were heard. The beating af a dnjoa 
<miae across the water, the sound of chanting and canfi|sed 
toices mingled with the usual rustle of leaves and swish of the 
waTt*. There was great wonder in the camp. Coald Chtp- 
pewat have cume sp close? Coqld friends he leekiag !•» 
la ? \n the rtrly daan a nun>beT of I acotahs swan over 
ta the island and searched the woods. But a few frightened 
4a«r and small animals were all they fouiid* So real had been 
th« sound of voices in the night, and so regular the beatiag al 
the drum, that they could not believe the sounds to hav|B bean 
Oade by winds or animals, t rotn thi^t time they called tha 
ktke Minuewaakan or Holy- Lake, What yon call DevU'f 
Heart we call tl^e Heart of thf Holy Lake." 

Durinjf the early part of the last century there IWe<i 
at Pembina, at least intermittetitly, a man who haa 
aometimes been called "The White Captive," aUhou«h 
his stay among the IndianR after he became a maD wa» 
of the nature of a voluntary residence. This was Joht* 
Tanner, who was the son of minister, and was borr* li^ 
Kentucky about the year 1780. While still » child \u 
yenm, his fHther moved across the Ohio riyer i^nd settled 
rear the mouth of the Miami. Jt seem«« that the wife 
of a chief of the Saginaw t )ttaw as of Lake H ufon haA 
lost a son under ten years of age and besotight her 
husbaiirl to make prisoDer some boy of like age to 
whom she could transfer her affections. Qo<m after the 
Tanner family had crossed the Ohio river, a small band 
o/jC^ttswas Wjcnton a scout for Net-no-kwa, the squa^ 
chieftain. Contrary to prohibition •( h{s faih<er, JOQM 



i.BGSKi> AND VACT 25l 

TABoer, then six or seven years of a^e, strolled intotb* 
woods and had just filled his hat with suts when b« war 
•eited by the Ottawan and carried awaj to Lake Huroa. 
The squaw chieftain whs pleased to get a boy of about th« 
tame age as the one she had lost. She treated Tanner 
kindly, which in alter years be reciprocated by taking 
care of her when she was old. 

Tanner was still a boy in Hge when about 1792 those 
with whom he lived migrated tu the Northwest, residing 
at Lake of the Woods, on the Assiuiboiue, and along Redi 
river in ditterent year^ with Indians of A Igonquian stock 
as were the Ottawas. Being; brought up among Indiana 
he acquired their language, customs and habits, finally 
taking an Indian wife, and was adopted into the tribe^ 
He was still a young man when he became known to 
'the traders at Pembina, but had forgotten his native 
language. He probably learned to converse with tb^ 
Canadian Frencb employees of the fur companies %94 
was known to them as a successtul hunter. 

Lord Selkirk assisted Tanner in finding his relativee 
In Kentucky. He met a brother about two years older 
than himself at Detroit and located at Sault Ste. Marie 
as an Indinn agent and interpreter. Ihf story ol bi* 
(Captivity and life among the Indians was redDce<) U* 
writing by Dr. Edwin James and published in ]9ew 
York in 1830. Tanner lived to the year 1«47. We 
•hall first give another legend of Devils lake to b« fol- 
lowed by an episode derived from Tanner's Narrative. 

''One evening a band of hunter* who had explored tor day* 
returned with disturbing, but by no means aawelcome news^ 
It had been discovered that ipme hated Ojlbways were camped 
ler the winter n*ar tl^e Turtle Mo^^talas 3hoold they camp 



ii XABLT BZSIOKT OF TQS DXTlLS LAKB COUNTRY 



itt pe«ce7 The young men hoped not^ for the very name, 
Qjibvray, made their ftghtiog blood leap. The old chieb 
h«ld council and to the great joy of the 3roung men who listen- 
■d flileatly — for they were not allowed to speak in coancll 
male«s qnestioned by the old men — to their great )oy, war was 
4€clared. Through th* following week^ the arrow-maken 
and boat-builders were busy from dawn ttll dark. AroaMi 
eiBp-firet at«nlght the old warriors planned the expedition, and 
ail day long Indian o^aidens.and squaws sat dn their wigwaast 
tashioaing their tribal ornacnents of war. So eager were all 
iat the fray that the warnings of the seer, Owahada, were langb' 
•d at. His dreams were scorned and the battle- fury in tbt 
wairiuis'i blood made omens that were usually -gravely obeyed 
•eem insignificant. The unusual southward flight of birds wa» 
bat plentiful game sent by the Graat Spirit in time of need. 
The early reddening of the leaves was not a portent of bloody 
defeat or of northern storms, but rather the radiant herald off 
tictory. And though ^o the toaidenswho watched their bravta 
«mbark on the great morning, ih^ shining waters seemed da»> 
gerously calm and their brightness showed glints of treachery, 
to the warriors the stillness of wind and wave was bat another 
evidenee of the Great Spirit's approval, and the Indian Saor 
mer warmth and haze gave them the freshness and %igor thai 
cfeeps through the veins when the sounds of melting svowasd 
running streams answer the spring winds. 

All d?.y the DakoLah women and children with the old mcft 
watched the placid 4ake for the returniog boats. Night caoMi 
but the warriors returned not. Another day passed and the 
bosom of the bay was ruffled by fitful whirling gusts. Dvsky 
clouds gathered in the east. Red leaves drooped in the late 
heat, and ominous rumbles of distant thunder broke the anal* 
ous stillness of the camp. The western lake was blood-red fro« 
the crimson sky. Above the range of tiins«t, black clouds, 
jLheir edges curied with bronse, movod i^^nderMsly iato fearful 



LBQBKp 4irp FACT 



«&tpe&. A try broke from N«dassa» *the chieftain's dark* 
wftA daughter.* Against the lurid sky the retarning boati 
were silhouetted. Scalps waving from their prows proclaim* 
•d the expedition victorious. Great was the joy in camp. 
Firei were lighted, peace*pipes filled, and welcome prepared 
lor the hoQje'Ccmiag braves. How slowly the boats crept on. 
The sunset faded. Lightning gashed the heavy clouds an4 
•bowed the sleeping lake a livid green. Nearer and more 
.9maioua rolled the thunder. Moans in the hill-tops told of 
tising windn. A blaze of fire from the heavens, a deafening 
^raah that shook the hills, aad the anger of the saddenlf 
irtod-laihed lake burst forth. All night long the tempest 
laged. At dawn tbe broken trees showed wreaths of tor» 
ua-weed and sandy foam on their stripped branches. Th« 
skin sides of the lodges were torn by falling bonghs. Tbt 
women, exhausted from the fury of the storm and the anxiety 
iO their hearts, wailed listlessly on the desolate beach. Tber« 
was no need to search for the brave warriors whom they bad 
watched in the red light before the storm. Shattered boats witk 
bits of hair and feathers hanging to them drifted ashore. Tb« 
mysterious waters bad carried all else beyond Bnding. The 
beautifnl lake, angered because its bosom had been desecrated 
by blood spilled in hatred, had avenged itself and now m thm 
cold sunlight of the Autumn morning brooded snHeniy erevita 
wrongs. And the green waves, stili Jashing each other ia the«|>, 
slowly dying fury, closed with cruel greed over tbe lo?m •# 
Kadassa whose stricken heart found rest only io tbe darkB««» 
in which Watha had been lost. 

••And for long years after whenever tbe twiHgWa beant^k 
was darkened by angry clouds and riie waves rose in fnry, 
Dakotahs watching from the shore saw tb« faithful Nadassa 
and her lover Watha braving the angry spirit of the lake ift 
search of the lost warriors."— Mary R. Breaoan, Sute Hi»» 
iorical Society Collections, Vol. L 476-g« 



$$ AA9X.T Bt«i>onT 07 rnt okyils lakbcouktbt 

J l " II ' J ' - ■ . ' " ' ■ '^ 

Th9t9 is»j be other iegendft having tQine conneetioa 
fvUh Ueyils Uke» but if so ttie publisher hat never met 
frith them in print. From the warmth of poetic faney 
ire shall next turn to colJ fact aud relate an episode of 
Indian life which occurred somewhere on the north 
•bore of the lake, possibly where the city now stands, 
lioce the Chippewas would likely have selected tkt 
•dge of the near by bay, which once existed there, fuf 
the site of their camp. The distance from Pembina to 
the lake in a southwestern direction is about 100 inilet, 
The episode to which reference is here made ia from 
'Vauner's Narrative. 

In the summer of 1804 a band of ten Chippewas, h^ 
sides squaws and children with the chief. Little C)a«i 
ahell. left Pembin^ for the lal|e, their intention being 
to camp there, hunt and make peromican. Tanner 
Was iUTited to Join the party, but eicused himself from 
foing on the ground that he "wished to remain in m 
troody country, for the purpose of hunting the fnr>bear> 
ing animaU/' Among the party there was a yottng 
man, a sort of dreamer, ^lio, before leaving Pembinn 

predicted that if they went at that time be himself 
would be killed. On the journey to the Jnke his pr«*v 
dictiouj* influenced otbern so that J<everal of the party 
ftole away and skulked back to Feinblua. The rest, 
men, womeu and children, went on to the lake, btttOD>j 
one ever returned. This wj«i» a person whom TaBoet 
callit "a foolish and lying young man." The etorj b# 
told as an excuse for returning to Pembina, wa» that ho 
ifelt that signs of danger had began to thicken aronrnl 
jLiitle Clam and his b«nd, so thht io the night bo bad 
left the camp, and bad traveled a considerable dittOOQt 



LBOSND AKD PACT 



wlMo ia the onomiog he had heard the soood of gunt 
9omiog from the direction of the camp. As to the rMl 
of this affair, Tanner'^ Narratiye says: 

'*Wc did not immediately credit the account of tkii Baft, 
tet waited anxisusly from day to day till at last the chiefs 
4ettrmiaed to send twenty men to ascertain whether there was 
any foundation for his statement. This party, when they 
arrived at the place where the Little Clam bad been encamped 
found that the whole band bad been eut ofi. First, and \m 
advance of all the camp lay the body of Se-gwnn-ooas, the 
young man who had predicted the attack before he left Pea»> 
Vinah. Near him lay some young men of his own age, and 
iarther back the stout body of Little Clam stuck full of arrows. 
Ia the camp the ground was strewed with the bodies of wome* 
and children. At a distance was the body of one of the Sioaa 
la a sitting posture and covered with the pukkwi, or mats* 
Which had belonged to the 0)ibbeway lodges. Not one es- 
caped except Match* e* toons, but some afterwards doubted 
whether he had not fled in the time of the fight instead ci the 
evening before as he stated. Thus died Little Clam the iasl 
of the considerable men of his age belonging to the Otibb^* 
ways of Red river. Our village seemed desolate after tbe^kif^ 
of so many men.'* 

The lant sentence of Tftnner'ft reUtion, coosiatiAg oi 
a remark, needs some explanHtiou. Aa before otated^ 
the narratiTe of his life wnn dictated or related, pk>e« 
by piece, to Dr. JxmeR, an army pofitsurgeoB, tometicne 
after Major Long's visit to Pembina in 1S28. This was 
many years after the principal events of his life. Hat> 
log spent much of his life hm n hunter aiul trapper, and 
Unable to read or writv, his memory of the order of 
etents and of the Indian chiefs concerned, had become 
confused. Of the three Jt'emb ch chiiitaiAS who were 



JO SAJtLi Mtirrour of the devilk lakkcountbt 

m ^ i' i 

-billed by the Biouz iii the first decMde of the century 
TaDoer seems to have been under the impression that 
Xittle Clam bhell wns the bxt, whereHR other records 
ihow that he wus the first of the three that lost their 
liTes in hostile encounters with the Hioux. The second 
chief killed was Heaupre or L« Liard who lost his life 
in a massacre on Tongue river July 3, 1805, this chief 
being father-in-law to Capt. Alex Henry of Pembina; 
the third chief killed by the Sioux was Tabashaw whom 
Tanner speaks of as Ta-bu-shinh, near Wild Rice riyer 
In December, 1807. It was then that Tanner might 
Well have said, "Our villnge seemed desolate after the 
loss of so many men." 

With much going on in the Northweet during that, 
first decade of the Isst century, we may now inquire aa 
to how little or how much was known of this then re- 
mote region to the people of our eastern states. We 
may get some idea of this subject by citing a few brief 
<|Uotation8 from a descriptive geographical work called 
the Morse Geography,* first published in 1789 and used 
in the schools of this country for between twenty and 
thirty years thereafter. The copy quoted is of an edi- 
tion printed in 1807, the eleventh. 

Speaking of the remote parts of what is now the roi<!t- 
dle west the geographer remarked: "There is a large 
tract of country (formerly included in the terrhory 
N. VV. of the Ohio) lying north of the Dlinuia an<! west 
of lake Michigan, and extending to the northwest point 

• •'Geocraphy Made Easy; being an AbrtdKettest of tbe 
American Univerial Geography." By Jedldiab Motm. D. D. He 
was our first American geographer, resided in ChaVlettowo, 
(iDd was father to 8. F. B. MorM, of talegtAph aaemory. 



LVaXKD AND FACT 3) 

■) III I ———1 ■ ■ III II II —.1.— Ill I ■ 

q1 th« Uoited Suten, which If inhabited by rariou* 
tribes of lodiaDS, and which ia little koowo." 

lo describing the Great Lakes he beeios at the weal 
ftcid with the Jiaice of the Woods. "The principal lakea 
i& the United State*, are the Lake of the Woods, io tht 
northwest corner of the United States, 70 miles long 
Siod 40 wide.-»As you travel east you nextcometo Long 
Lake, 100 miles long, and about 18 or 20 wide.— Thenee 
you pass through sereral smHlI lakes into Lake Supe^ 
rior, the largest lake in the world, being about 1^600 
miles in circumference." 

Could Capt. Henry ha?e looked over a chance copy of 
thin work he might have smiled over the enlargement 
of Rainy lake, being on a route he had frequently gone 
back and forth over; but having been in 1806 out tothe 
Missouri river, he certainly would not have agreed with 
the geographer in regard to the sources of that and 
some other large rivers, as indicated by what follows; 
"The Indians say that three of the largest rivers io 
North America, viz: bt. Lawrence, Mississippi and 
Oregon, or river of the went, have their sources witbilt 
About SO miles of each other. If this be a fact, it profit 
that the lands at the heads of these rivers are the high* 
est in North America." 

A crudely engraved map of North America, p>ea9ur- 
ing about 8 by 7 inches, dated 1806, which tM^d into 
the book, represents the Missouri river as bsving its 
source in a lake in what is now the western part of 
Mebrsska. The geographer evidently knew notkiog of 
the Red river country. Ci»uld be have seen tome mai>. 
uscript maps of Verendrye's time, buried among the 
colonial records of France, might have been benefitted 



^ AAKLT tiZ^TORT OV TliE DEVILS LAKE COUNTRY 

in 8f)m« In those reepectH. I'he Lewis ftod Clark ezpedi* 
tion hftd returned in 180G, but for f^ome reasoa or othef 
their report nus n«)t pul))ishef1 till 1813. Id the mean- 
time the journal of Alexander Mackenzie wai printed la 
New York in 1809, and this gave much new ireograpk- 
ifal information conrrrniMtr the region between HudaCHi 
Hay and the Pacific Ocean. 

When the Loulaiana Purchase was made Id 1808, ita 
Qorthern boandarj was unsettled and although it wai 
thought that the 49th parHllel of latitude should becomt 
the boundary in question, this wh«* not definitely agreed 
apoo between Great Britain and the United Statea nntil 
the y«ar 1818, and then only from the Lake of th« 
Woodi* to the Rockv Motintaina What is now Idaho, 
Oref^on nud WashiDgu>n wh4 neyer included in ih# 
L(mi>iaQH Por«:haf»«, althoueh the contrnry Idea waa 
encouraged. Under the circum»»iance8, in Capt. Henry'a 
tiqfie, no boundary line was recognized by the tradera t« 
-the west of Lake Superior. 

The first white men that saw Derils lake wer« Hke^y 
to hare been persons in the employment of th« Nortlh 
west Fur Company, We find no mention of white mep 
▼isiting the lake until about 1815 or later when Duncan 
(Iraham, a Scotchman, having married a 8loox woman, 
fettled on an itiland named after him, and traded with 
the Indians for dome time. About 1819 Auguttin* 
Roche, a French Canadian trader, also a squaw man, 
establiflhed a post on another island, located near th* 
present Chautauqua grounds, and named after him Koeh 
island. Years now pass with no further allusicne io thi« 
region owinRto(he isolation of that p«rt of t|»« coiuiUy, 



CHAfTER JV. 
KXPEDITION OF JBAN N. NIOOLT.ET 

AS loDf; ago as when Jackson was Fregident th«r« 
had been established by the goTerumeut a body 
of men called the Bureau of Topographic^ 1 Engioecraf. 
In part their work was of a geographical nature, riail* 
jog with military escorts little known portions of Ik* 
tf^rritories, mappiutf the lakes, streams and land beigkta, 
also nscertaing such details a» altitudes, latitude and 
longitude of various piMntw, the width and depth of tk« 
stream*, and other particulars, their finding» being 
•mbodied in reports and accompanying maps. 

Jean N. Nicollet was a Frenchman by biith. H« 
was born in the villMse of Cluses, Krance, in 1786. This 
place is located in the department (county) of Haute 
i^a?oie, about 35 miles southeast from Geneva. NicoU 
let studied astronomy under La Place and in 1817 he 
was appointed librarian of the Paris obNervatory. With 
a irood equipment of the physical knowledge of his time 
he sailed from Bre^t tor the Unite i State* in 1881. 
After arriving; in this country he entered the service 
of the Bureau of 'li>po^rHpliic>4l Engineers. After ex- 
ploring the basin of the lower Missisr<ippi river and ita 
a£9uents in the south, he v>as next assigned tu the region 
of the upper Mi^sipwippi with heaHqiiarteriiat St. Louis, 

The geographical and other work "ow done in Iowa, 
Minnesota and the I akotas was more thorough than 
bad been done before by the united efforts of all pr^ 
▼iouR explorers. In the^^e later explorations wbijBh 
covered the years from 183^ ift )843, Lieut. JobD Ou 



M iCAKLY HiBlUHX Uk JT^JC UKTILS LAKA country 

Fremont waf< Nicullet'N priucipal «iii and asaiHUnt froii\ 
the time of his appointmeut iu 1888. A biography of 
Fremout which wan published in 18^6 when he waa 
a candidate tor ihe Presidency, says in regard to kU 
asAigixment to goveruiii<\ut nt-rvice uucer Nicollet: 

"Uariog the admin istra^on of Mr. Van Bureo, an act wa« 
passed and approved by iiim on the 5th of July, 1838, to m* 
crease the military es^blishment. The fourth section required 
that the corps of topographical engineers should be organized 
and increased, by regular promotion in the same^ so that th^ 
said corps should consist of .one colonel, one lieutenant colo- 
nel, four majors, ten captains, ten first lieutenants, and ten^ 
second lieutenants; and the htth section ordained that th^ 
f acancies created by said organization, over and abote those 
which could be filled by the corps itself, should be taken from^ 
ihe army, and from such as it may be deemed advisable of thf 
civil engineers employed under the act of the ^oih of April, 
1824. 

'*The latter clause let in Mr. Fremont. It was probably 
designed to do so, as his friend and patron, Mr. Poinsett, was 
then Sectetaiy of War. He was accordingly commissionedi 
two days afterwards, on the 7th of July, 1838, as a second 
lieutenant of the top< graphic-<<l engineers. About this time 
he had been tran^feircd tn the theatre of his fame, the field 
where his greatest work in life was to be done." 

The woik hbove quoted ^ctf^M on to fitate that the task 
of a t()| igraphichl .'^urvey of the va(«t region west of the 
Mississippi wa8 deemed by the adminiHtratioD to be 
in (orthnt, and that Mr. Micoilet, astronomer and mem- 
ber of the French Academy, and a gentleman of great 
l^ereral uciompiishmerts and worth, re*»iding in 8t. 
l^ouiH, hud bten placed iu charge of this ^ervice. Hft 



SJtFKDITiON OF JKaA H. NiOULL£T 35k 

bad requested that gome CHpable and young person be» 
asftociated with him hs an aMdi«tHiii, and heuce l^ieui. 
Fremont was assigned to that podiiion and be gladly 
accepted the otfer of it. Hi? first service with NicolUti 
was during thai year in Minnesota. 

During the warm nea^ion of the year 1S'6\) Nicollet's 
party w^h again in the field They left rit. l^ouis Aprii 
4th on tiio Pteamer Anielope which ran on. the Missouri 
river iii the service of the AmericaH Fur Company, and 
un June l2th they landed at Fort Fitrre Choteau with 
rteventfen horses. They had occupied sixty nine dayn 
with stoppages for obi^ervationM, and covered a distance 
of 1271 miles. Having crossed to the east side of the 
river, by July 6th the expedition was enroute ior DeviU 
Ukd. They traveled in ^ iiiortheastern directioii acrosa 
the southern exten^ion ot the Missouri I'oieau to a post 
of the American Fur Company called Uakwo<jd Settle>- 
meot on James river, or liiviere a JsqueM as the tradera 
then called this stream Tiiis trading post was near 
the south line of Brown County, S. D. The line oi 
inarch was next up the wet»t side of James river to B«)ne 
Hill (in La.Moure (\)unty). whence, having crossed the 
river, they continued noiiheafit t«» the ^he^enne river^ 
which wax rt-ached a few milfM below where Valley City 
In now located. This* stream was followed up toward 
heviU lake. The 25th and 2Cth of July was spent about 
a group of small lakes south of the upper reach of the 
8heyerne, of which Lhke Jcfsie is on^.-so*^ Darned at 
that time in honor i.f Jessie (Bentui/) Fremont. U4> 
one of the last days of July the expedition arrived on 
l\ts south shore of I evils ]ak0 at a ^ptteX^ieh Nicollet'a 
piap calU Chantre Hill. 



.^tt KARLY tfiafOMT OF iht okTILS tA« OOVlfTKT 



A week wh8 Hpent nround the lake and in its Ticinity, 
mapping it« outliues, outing pbysicHJ features, and 
making obflervationn. The party explored its soath 
Mbore as far west &h the point of laud near Fort Totten 
and the north shore to where Grand Harbor is located. 
The west end of the lake was not visited, so Nicollet's 
map leaves that portion of its outlines unfinished, or as 
not bfing known. l^rinted on what represents the 
water surface on the map mentioned is this inscriptioo: 

MINI W A K A N L A K K 

(Devils L.) 

The north shore ot the lake is shown as bluH'j, as if tb« 
land north of it whs a plateau, then this line of blnffsr 
extends around the north end of Stump lake, turninp 
south and uniting with thowe shown along both sides of 
Sheyenue river above its big bend, t^onir bays are alsry 
shown indenting btith shorcH, those niont prominenf 
pertaining to the south fehore. The narrowest part of 
the lake is represented as being opposite where Fort 
lotten is located. The country in two places, both 
north and Houth of the lake, ij» niarked "Suit Water 
Region" in OHpital letter!'. Stump lake Ih called oi» 
the nap "Wamiiunhka" lakr. 

On August 6th, .Nicollet's party were at the Houtb eud 
of the ea!«tern arm ol Stump lake and on the Stb they 
marched through the southern part of Nelson County 
and into the western part of (irand Forks County, or to 
the western verge of the Ked Hiver Valley. Engaged 
largely in topographic work,' it was not to Nicollet** 
purpose to explore level plains already mapped by Prof. 
Keating. Their course was thereforjB cbanged to the 



mmmttKHHi om j>ka9 it. iticohhwt^ ZT 



aouthward to reach and explore the Coteau des Prairies«, 
lo this state the journey tu that region led tbrougb 
Hteele, Barnes, Hansom and 8arg«^iit counties. 

The map to which reference has been made, measur* 
ed about 2J by 3 feet and was* printed on thin paper 
»o as to fold up in a pocket of Nicollet's published 
report. It was called "The Map of the Hydrographic»> 
Basin of the Upper MisHi^sippi Kiver," and is dated 
1842. The territory covered embraces the entire statea 
of Iowa and Minnesota and parts of others that adjoin 
(hem. To some extent the innp wan based on othera 
preceding it, but HeyerlhelesH contained what were tkeo 
many new geographical features, particularly in what 
is now Minnesota and the eastern parts uf North and 
Idouth Dakota, then all Indian country except for a few 
military posts and fur trading establishments. In later 
years Gen. G. K. Warren pronounced Nicollet's maj» 
"one of the greatest contributi(»nM ever made to Amer-» 
ican geography." 

N. H. Winchell in his history of explorations ap- 
pended to the forefront of the first volume of the Geo- 
logical and Naturwl History r^urvey of Mirnepota had 
this to say in regard to Nicollet's methods and work: 

"He aims to locate correctly, by astronomical observations, 
the numerous streams and lakes, and the main geograpbica* 
featuren of the state, filling in by eye- sketching, and by 
pacing, the iatermediate objects. His methods, allowing for 
the imperfection of his appliances, and the meagerness of his 
outfit and supplies, were established on the same principles as 
the most approved geodetic surveys of the present day. It 
would, perhaps, have been well if the methods of Nicollet 
pould have been adhered to in tht surveying and wappiag of 



m £AKLY »lirFD&Y OF THK DETlL» l.KKK OOPWTRT 

the irestern territories. Their geography would have beec^ 
less rapidly developed, but it would have been done more 
correctly. Nicollet's map embraces a multitude of nantes^ 
including many new ones, which he applied to lakes aad^ 
streams." 

The followhip wre nameH on Nicollet's map that <>cear 
un or near the route followe«i frum the Missouri riyer 
to DeviU lake. Some of them still persist on present 
<iaf maps. Any fignreM attached refer to altitudes •x- 
teptint( days of the iiiooth which are quite obvious. 

K. Medicine Knoll R. 

Coteau du Missouri. 2026. 

Wamdushkah or Snake K. 1696. 8th July. 

Tchanrarachedan or Small Scattered Wood L. 9tli July. 

Talle de Chenes. Otuhu Oju Oakwood Settlement. 

Riv. A JaqOes. 
Hampah or Mocasin R. 
Chedi L. Maple R. Pey or Elm R. 
Tuan Chicahah L. (Dakota lake in Stutsman Cfanty.ji 
Two Forks lytb July. 
Butte aux Os or Bone Hill R. 
Butte aux Os or Bone Hill. 1400. iSth July. 
Mato Pahah or Grisly Bear Hill R. 

Shayenn Oju R. (Sheyenne river.) 
Matota or Bears Den Hill. 
Inyan Bosndata or Standing Rock. 
•Tampa or Bird C. Ist Bald Hillock R Toll L. 

' Butte Michaux. 1386. Bald Hillock C. 

L. Jessie (and several small unnamed lakes) 2$ k a6 Joly. 
Horse Butte and L. 1378. Beaver Lodge R. 
Free Peoples L. with fresh water. Chicot L, salt water. 
Chantre Hill 17— 

Mini Wakan Lak^ (Devils L.) . 



smrmvtimm cp mkah «, mcouusr 8^ 

We do Dot wish to coDclude this eketcb relatiTe ia 
(be work of a worthy officer of the corp» of top(»gr«pb> 
ical engineers to whom the Dakotas was mocb indebted 
tor the eariy deTelopment of a good part of iu geogra^ 
phy, without giviDg the reader some idea relative W 
the manner in which the said officer and explorer baa 
been reoiembered by varions Hketrb writers and other 
per^on^ e»«ayiog to write concerning the early history 
9f this state. The following are specimens: 

♦*In 1839 Gen. John C. Frcroont crossed over the country 
from ihe Missouri to the James and tbeuce up to Devils lake/* 

"In 1836 7 John C. vFremont visited the region describing 
accnrately Devils lake and other important localities." 

*'It was afterwards explored by Lientenant- Colonel Fre- 
moat, by Captain Pope, and by Lfentenant Warner.** 

*'Over this trail General Fremont and bis party made tbeiff 
jovmey eastward from Devils lake to Red river, and here ii^ 
the immediate vicinity of the two lakes they pitched their 
camp for a night." (No date mentioned, but the reference is 
to Stump lake and a small fresh water lake near where Nicol- 
let's party camped August 6, 1839.) 

All of the above is bnsed of CdUrse opon Frerot»nt's 
Ister lopularity «»• an explorer and pathfinder in what 
was then the far west. The yenr he was with Nicollet 
in the hakoths be wso 26 years of age, gaining a Tain* 
»bl? rxferience for futpre ardoous services. Nicollet 
died at Wai^hirgt* n, D. C, ?eptfmher 11, 1843, while 
his rf|.ort wns Itirg rfvif^d and printed. Nicollet 
I'MtntT, Minn., and an avecne in Minneapolis were 
pamed after him. 



CHAPTER V. 

FKUM THE FORTIES TO SETTLEMENT TIMES 

FOLLOWING the risit of Nicollet and FreaioDt we 
find DO record oi tbe coming to Devils Imke of nnj* 
other ezpeditiuuarj force uiitil the yenr 1846. Od the 
$d of June that year Uapt. E. V. Sumner left Fort 
Atkinson, in nortbea^tero Iowa, with a companj of 
troop9 MDil headed iiOTthwentertj for the IVIioDeeot* 
river, arriving; at Traverse de» 8ioux oo the 22d of 
of the HMine month. Ih the coiinti^ f»oiith of the Wp 
beud of the river a junction was effected with another 
company under Lieut. Allen, who had marched north- 
ward from Fort Des Moines*. From Traverse des Sioux 
ihe united force next nmrclied to Lac qui Parle where 
Capt. Snmner had an important conference with tbe 
NYHb^^etori »i(»ux. liig tiStone lake was reached on tbA 
5tb of July where a council was held with the ^issitODf. 
The route from Big Stone lake to Devils lake was by 
way of the j»outh bend of the Sheyenne river. Tbe 
expedition reached Devils lake July 18th where they 
met, presumably on the north ^hore, a band of about 
180 halfhrfeds, who were oat on their u-'UhI .-umroer 
buffalo hunt. Oii the return trip this military force 
reached Traverse des rtioux August 7th, and later the 
compsnies separated and returned to their respective 
headquarters. This expedition "seems to have been 
made more for the purpose of jqnpressing the Indian^ 
with the power of the government and the necessity of 
committing no depredations on the settlers, than for 
the purpose of learning tbe nature ^f tbr<^uotry.". 



In tboxe yearA the Pembina and M»oitoWk kftlfbreedii 
^ften ▼ititf'd the coiintry nrljacfitt to tbe 9(>rtb sbpreot 
the lake tod camped arouiul the indenting bays. Tbtic^ 
women and chiMren accompanied them on the suBM«f 
^unt and it had become cuittomary to bare a pritt|| 
with them who held a reiigioa§ service each Sunday 
andinnttuctfd the children in camp at times on otb«r 
dayA of tbe week. Capt. Pope who came tqt Ptinbia* 
with Major Wood^ in 184V, thu» speaks of these %uwk* 
Sier buffalo bums: 

**The7 xabsist almost entirel}^ upon tbe dried buHalo mcat„ 
which i» procured and prepared for use during their bants ifi 
the autuma and summer. About the loth of June the baitr 
breeds of tbe Selkirk settlemeuts join those of Pembina, and 
baring elected some persons to manage their marches aad tbsi 
afiairs of their internal police, they set out upon their bunt faff 
the buffalo, which are only found withia the territory of tbfi 
United States. They observe with great regard and unwavering 
fidelity any agreements as to {(ovetnment which were madf; 
before Starting, and are entirely submissive to the authority of 
those they have selected ^% ^^ad^r^ until the return of tbe ca* 
peditions, when everything like control is at once abandoned. 

*'The greater portion of th«m own fine horses upon wbic| 
10 pursue the chase, and those who have none are provided 
for by permitting them to follow on foot tbe hungers, and, by 
assistir.g to eta t up ©nd prepare for use the daughiercd bufialo, 
to share the profits of tbe hunt. Some six pr eight hundred 
of the small French carts, usually drawn by one o« or berte ifk 
the shsfts, and capable of carrying pight hundred or oacthow* 
Hand pounds, are taken out by the hunters, and are loaded 
with their yearly supply of provisions. The women and cbiI4> 
ren always accompany tbe expeditions, tbe women being 
principally charged with the preparation of tbf d^d bntalo 
meat and maanfactare ef tbf penniicaa.'* 



¥1 SAIiLT HISTORY Or THB DE¥IL8 LAKE COUNTRY 

i)uring the years 1853, 1854 and 1855 there were con* 
ducted several exploring nud surveying ezpeditiooa 
near the 47th and 49ch parallels of latitude, the object 
q\ which was to determine the practicability of a rail- 
road route frutn the upper Mississippi river to the Pacific 
Oceao. The engineers were accompaDied by militarj 
escorts. iSuch projects had been broached back Id the 
forties, which probably led to the government expedi*^ 
tioDS mentioned. Reports were published, but we have 
met with scarcely any accounts of parts of the country 
examined by these parties. However, Gen. Htevena io 
command ot one party, visited the Devils lake country 
in 1853 and marked oai a trail leading southeast to Big 
Stone lake. 

By this time there was a well marked trail leading 
from the lake northeast to St. Joseph and Pembina, 
^nd made by the halfbreed bi^ttalo huQters. In th» 
fifties it was sometimes traveled over by the fur traders 
of Pembina and rit. Jonepn. About the year 1858 tbf 
traders arranged a peace conncil between the Chippewa* 
and the 8ioux, which took place on the plains of Nelt^on 
County, near i^tump lake. 

In 1862 ('apt. Jas. 1^. Fi«k, who wa« sent to Kort Aber- 
crombie, was authorized by the Secreiary of War to 
escort with a company of troops any emigrant traiq 
that might be bound for the western gold tields through 
Dakota Territory, and those intending to make the tlip 
were instructed to start from Fort Abercrombie. Early 
in the season a company of about eighty emigrants from 
Minnesota not knowing of the military escort, took a 
more northern but longer route, and went by way of 
Pembina. St. Joseph and along the uortbren boundary. 
The train that Capt. Flak's truopa guarded left fort 



FKOM THS FOBTIX8 TO bETTLEMKMT TIMES 43 

Abercronibie Juiy 7. 1S62, ftcd reached the first crosi- 
ing ot the Sbeyeone where a fiuating bridge had been 
provided, the next day. The route followed lay gener- 
ally northwest toward Devils lake. The emigrant traift 
WHS bound for VValU Walla, Wash., and was making 
for Fort Benton by the most direct course. Just before 
xeachiog the second crossing of the 8heyenne on the 
14th, a herd of buffalo wa8 seen estimated to comprise 
6,000 animals. Lake Jessie was reached in a couple of 
days and passing through the rolliug country to the 
auuth of Wevils lake the expedition filed on its way 
toward the Missouri river. The troops took a 12-pound- 
er cannon along wiih them bui had no occasion to use 
it, for tnis was a few weeks ha/ore Indian hostilitiea 
broke out in Mioneeota. 

During the 8ioui Indian war of 1862 64, a good part 
«)f the campaigniDg carried on against them was in the 
Dakotas by the armies of Generals Hibley and Sully. 
The army under (len. H. H. Sibley contiisted of ovaf 
3,400 men and was organized for a summer cj^mpaign at 
LeSeur, Minn., from which place they marched in June, 
1863 to Big Storte lake, (/rofc-sin^ Browns valley between 
that lake wnd Ljjke Iraverne the last of the onf>nth, the 
inarch wac couiinued no« thwesierly to the bow or south 
bend of iSheytnne river *vhich was reached July 4, 1863. 
Crosiiiug the stream at a ford, the army went into camp 
to »w«it the arrival of a supply train of about eighty 
wagons from Alexandria, Minn., by way of Fort Aber- 
crombie. This came on the evening of the 10th. After 
beiug driven out of Minnesota, some bands of the Sioux 
with the chief, Little Crow, had gathered about l>eviU 
lake. Little Cruf? tent word to Geo. Sibley to come up 



44 KAKLY HISTOBT OW THl DETIL8 LACB OOUMTBr 

there aud fight him. The march was resumed on the* 
11th toward the lake. At that season the summer heat 
WAS struoj;, druuth had parched the prairies and the 
Rocky MouDtain locusts swarmed oyer the country, all 
of which impressed the men with the idea that Dakota 
would iierer make a desirable location for white people 
to dwell in. 

A second crossing of Sheyenne river was made on 
July ir>Ht a point about filleen miles above Valley City. 
Here the trail of Capt. Fisk was struck, which in part 
had been the route of (^eu.atereiis in 1853. The march 
was continued to Lake Jessie which was reached on tb« 
19th. A caravan of Had Kiver halfbreeds was found iD 
the neighborhood. At Lake Jessie a camp was formed 
and named Gamp Atchison, it whs ascertained that the 
Indians had left Devih lake and gone toward the south- 
west to hunt buffalo in order to avoid famine. Little 
i^row, with some twenty of his warriorn, went back into 
Minnesota to steal horses, where he was killed by two 
•ettlers iu Wright County. 

Camp Atchison was made a hospital and supply sta- 
tion for ^^ibley's army and several companien were left 
gs a guard, while the niHin force continued the cam- 
paign alter the hostile i^^iouz, resulting in killing 51 of 
them. In the fall the army returned to Minnesota. 

Captain Pick's company escorted another emigrant 
train throuch to Idaho in 1868. The route followed 
was the same aH before and in the track of Sibley's 
army. In 1864 Uen. Bully, who had been campaigning 
along the Missouri river, in marching eastward, came 
tp Devils lake. Hullys hill, eaat of Foft Totteo, is « 
memento of this Tisit. 



rsOM TH£ FORTIES TO eRTTLEMIN TIM18 45 

Id the summer of 1865 a strong scouting force visited 
Ueyiis lake. The object of the ezpedidon apparently 
was to continue to impress the Indians with a show of 
military power until the goyernment could establish 
military posts in the Dakotas. The expedition set oat 
trom Fort Snelling with Major Cunningham in com^ 
mand, and consisted of a regiment of cavalry and up> 
ward of two hundred civilians employed in various ea* 
pacities, such as teamsters of an accompanying wagon 
train, cooks, etc. The march whh across Minnesota by 
one of the military routes, and in Dakota by way of 
Sbeyenne river, following ^ibley*8 trail in part at least. 
In August the expedition reached the lake and scouted 
around there for a while. If there were any Indian* 
there at that time they would likely have taken alarm 
and withdrawn, tor they hati good reason to fear an 
well-armed military force. On leaving Devils lake the 
expedition proceeded eHHtward and southeast acrosH an 
uninhabited stretch of country, their objective point at 
first being Georgetown on Red river before returning to 
Fort Snelling. There were men in Cunningham's com* 
mand, also in Sibley's army, who, in subsequent years 
•ettled in North Dakota, 

Beginning with the year 1867, thence down to the 
time when pt-rmanent settlements began to be made 
along the north side of Devils lake, and around Stomp 
lake, the history of that region is mainly that of Fort 
Totten and the ('ut-Head Sioux Indian Reservation. 
Settlements have occasionally been attempted in ad- 
TRnce of what han been the regular march of westward 
civilication and development, but if not abandoned they 
have usually continued in a fitful ttAtoof eziatenco until 



4% «4KLT HIHTOUY UF JTMS l>mLtl LAKB OODITTBT 

the Bgricultaral development of the country began im 
ta^e place, which, in eastern North Dakota, was hardly 
before the middle and late seventies. 

The construction of Fort Totten was begun in (h« 
summer of 1867, a considerable force of troops under 
command of Qen. A. H.Terry having arrived at the 
lake in July. The first buildings were constructed of 
logs, the site chosen being about 900 feet back irom lb« 
«hure of lake. The site is 14^0 feet above sea level and 
about forty feet above the lake. The surrounding 
tiountry is somewhat billy and otherwise of a rolling 
nature. Near the lake the high ground is cut by deep 
timbtred ravines and at the time the fort was bqiU, 
dim, oak and ash timber lined the shore in its vicinity, 
A portable sawmill was teamed from Fort StevensoO) 
on the Missouri river, to lurnii<h sawn materials to aid 
in the construction of the fort. The fort was named for 
Col. Joseph Gilbert Totten, a distinguit«hed army officer, 
who was born in New Haven, Conn., August 28, 178d» 
#od died April 22, 1864. 

By the close of the year fairly copifortable quarters 
had been eKtabliHhed and a log stpckade built with 
palisMdfs (ipbtefn feet high. 1 he buildings enclosed a 
space about 400 ffet (•quare »khich served for a parade 
ground. The po^t wac gnriifitred by three companieS| 
Capt. i:). A. Wainwright being the first post commander* 
succeeded near the end of the year by Major Whistler. 

An attempt was made to eHtabliRh a mail route froin 
Fort Abercrombie by way of Fort Hansom and theShey* 
enne river tu Fort Totten tnd thence to the posts on 
the upper Missouri river, but two mail carriers havin|| 
been killed by the Indiana, that pa^i of the route mB§t 



yaoM THK fdrriit to numMutafj tiiibs 47 

to Fort Stevenson bid to be abMiidoned. ▲ military 
force ^oaigbt hare gone out and puoinbed tbe iDdiaoa,, 
bnt it WAS thought to be a better policy to try toiodae* 
the m to settle on m ref^erTatioo to be eittabliabed n9mr 
Furt^Totten. A band of them wsa located at tbe beod 
of Myu»e riTer.aod toward winter measesgera were tent 
to them with tbe asKUraDce that they would be treated 
Well Aud be provided for if they would locale od a reser* 
TatioD. The JndiauR partly distrusted the whites, but 
•«nt a sfnall baud to find out whether the promisee had 
been made in good faith. Gradually tbe whole basd 
i!ame in and settled nesr the post. 

Ereo as late as 1S68 there were Indian troubles fro* 
omali roving bands ^ho teiused to go on reserTatioBf. 
On one f»cca<iioo a small band mounted on pooler rod* 
in upon the reservation and endearored to stampede aod 
drive away a herd of mules, but the auimals persisted 
in running toward the fort. ]n trying to head them of 
the Indians came near the fort and weie fired upon by 
•ome of the troops, when they abandoned the object 
of their raid and fled. The route to Fort Abercrombit 
was safe to travel and tbe tnail for Fort Tottea vat 
carried by fhimkas CrHVon. 

The Indian reservation, i^hich isrlt)d«d tbe Fort 
Totten Military reservation, was provided tor io 18G7 
and was estsbli^hed by an order of the President of tbe 
United States, January 11. 1870. There were chaogm 
of boQodartea made later, and the military reserTatioa 
waa made to include the islands in tbe lake. 1b 1870 
tbe number of Indians gathered at the Agency footed 
up to 152 tpen, 143 women and 246 childrefi— total 640. 
3oBe of then bad begun to cultivate plots of laad. 



48 BAtcLY HIMPOKY OF TH« DEriLB LAKK COUNTRY 

"Oil Septembr 6, 1872, Major Forbes Again reported 
lo the Indian department. The largest number of 
Indians on the Agency dnring the year was 725. The 
wheat and oats crop that summer had been destroyed 
by grasshoppers. However, the Indians had harresttd 
2,000 bushels of corn, 1,500 bushels of potatoes, and 
bad put up 300 ton^ of bay. A saw and grist mill ruo 
by a twenty-five borne power engine had been built. 
This together with other ageucy machinery to the falutt 
of $5,000 had been purchaj'ed. More than fifty men 
had adopted citizens' dreBS. The Indian agent and hie 
employeeH still occupied the buildings of the old fort." 
—State Historical Soc. Col., Vol. IH. p. 183. 

In 1874, through effortH made by Major Forbes, the 
beginnings of a Catholic Mission School was established 
on the reservation. The first buildings were located 
on the south shore of the lake about seven miles east of 
the fort. Four Sisters of the Gray Nuns and a priest 
came from Montreal by way of Jamestown to set about 
establishing the mission. It was late in October and aa 
a snow storm came on when ibey reached Jamestown 
with M'^jor Forbes and others en route to the fort, they 
encountered home hHrds-hipp, the la«t i^tretcb of their 
journey from the rnilroad bfing 81 miles. They were 
comfortably provided for in ii log house and they were 
welcomed by the Indians. The mission building waa 
not finished inside, but little by little things were got- 
ten into better shape and hospital work undertaken for 
the sick. The first year fifty children were provided 
for at the school and while the sisters learned 8iou« 
•he children learned Irglish. As time passed aceom* 
modation9 and mission facilities grew apact. 



FBOV rif« VOKTIEtS to 0l>TirLl£MB1fT T1UW9 49 

The tite of the post baildiogs of Fort Tott«D wm 
oacfed 800 ytrds south and the daw ones that Wf 
bailt were eooipleted during the earlj Beventiea. Th* 
officers la command at the fort were changed from tint 
lo tifoe^ »o also wore the bouDdnries of the miHtar|t 
reseriraiion. \ Burvej made in 1875 defined thet« 
boundaries as follows: "On the east by the line dif id* 
log r<4nge8 64 and 65 west; on the south bj the 8hey* 
enne river; on the west by the line diriding ranges €$ 
and 6«); and on the north by Devils Luke." The Uat 
Head 84oax itidian He«er?atioD lying ut>xt east was of 
somewhat larger area comprising the tract between ih% 
Uke and the Sheyenne river. 

"In the lacter part of November, 187A, the garrisoft 
at Fort rutceii coMsisted of but a aiiij^le company, an 
entire force of but three officers^ 40 men and one lodiaa 
scout. Thifi {.trot*ably marks the lowest point io thd 
strength of the g^irrison at Fort Totten, during the 
history of the post. This is nut Hiiigular. The Indian 
wars in Montana cauied a dratn upon the frontier 
garrisons at this time." In 1877 the garrison had been 
increxited to fifteen officers and Jl70 men. The censui 
of 1880 gave the population at Fort Totten as beioy 
252 persons which includfd eirpltiyces and others. 

Supplies for Port Totteu and th<> Indian reserratio^ 
were teamed from Jamestown, but in 1877 a survey 
was made lor a trail across the country with the view 
of establishing a route to ('i rand Forks. However, b« 
such route wss utilited until two years later. Th« 
teaming was done by Itidian earsvaofl in summer aB<| 
autumn. Good strong wsgore were used, each drawi| 
^y ayukeof oxeo witli ftQ ludiVo dmer and eaovM 



60 tASLT nwtQUt uy lui^ dbtil* lack codhybt 

Ispees i?ere Ukeo along for their encatnpmenU at night.-' 
The CAravans comprised forty or fifty teams io charg*, 
at a white man hm agent or >V(»goo-uia8ier. 

In the fall of 1879 a mail route was establinhtd 
between Grand Forks and Kort Totten. Grand Forkt, 
and Crookston were then about to become connected bj 
railroad. Vietn & McKelTey of Grand Forks had r*- 
ceivad a contract to (urai<tb supplies to the fort. Aa; 
organisation called the Overland Mail A Tranaporl«*f 
lion Company, with headquarters at Washington, w«r«^ 
then the origiutil contract.iri with the government foe 
a iarf^e nutuber ot mail routes in the west. As a wagOA. 
trAil would consequently be opened or struck out fruii^ 
-iirnod Forked to Fort lotteu, it seemed desirable thaV 
it «ht>ul<i also be made at least a temporary mail ro«t«» 
or until such time as the railroad would be extended to^ 
i'eTils Uke. Bei^idea, the ctiurse of Turtle river wetl^ 
af Grand Forks so far as there was any tittiber aloDg 
the stream, was already occupied by settlers dweliint 1% 
)oir cabins, and they had no mail facililies nearer tba^ 
Grand Forks, to some of them twenty to th)rty-t?a< 
miles distant. Grand Forks, it may be added, was tktn 
Biereiy a villrigo ot four or five hundred inhabitant*. 

After^some contest the sub-contract for carrying th« 
nail on the route once a week was let to W. 19. Roach 
who had moved to (^rand Forks from Washington, P.O., 
in September of that jear. He started out on his first 
trip, accompanied by James H. Mathews, in the early 
part of < ^toher. As far west as Bachelors Grove, 9r 
the foot of the nplands, they drove on the wagon traiU 
of thp Turtle river settlers, but in what is now Nelson 
County they bad to pick their way usiog a pocket eo«^ 



9W>« THI F0il¥2Mi tU tfrrt^KlfKNT TIMES bl 

■ I > I.I. — ' ' ' ' ■' 

ptM. Near (h« west border of Grand Forki Coauty, 
•■ now bounded, they met the first lodiao carayan ttiat 
went to Qraod Forks for gorernment supplies and 
fdiich tbuB far had traveled a more southern route tha» 
the mail party took iu crossing Nelson County. 

After the route was opened three itttenuediate post* 
offices were establiahed in the iog cabins of settlers, 
two on Turtle ri7er and the other at Stump lake. Tb« 
latter was kept by Warren Smith. Uoach also pot up 
a storm ciibin in what is now Adler township, Nelson 
CoQOty, for possible winter use. He drove a light 
W|igon with two good roadsters attached. He did ool 
ftlwayii go on the road himself but made use of the ser- 
7:ee>4 of others. Soiuetimes in winter a dog sleigh ba4 
4o be owed. 

' fn comias? from Grand Forks the Kort Totteu trail 
cro»f«ed Turtle river at wh*t wi»i then Kobert BUkely'a 
)^lace in Mekinock t»>%uHhip <tnd keeping on the north 
tide of the stream for severnl miles it again crossed U 
at H. K. Hanson's plac* in HegtoH township. Th« 
two Turtle river postofficcM were kept by the twosettlert 
■leutioneri nbove. pHHsiug on throujr h Elm Grove and 
the south part ot Niaenra townships the route passed 
out ot Grand Forks County in the northwest corner of 
Moraine towr«hip. Cro«nioir the north half «f Nelson 
County the route next pasted aron nd the north end of 
Htump lake and turning the eaMt end of Devils lake it 
crossed the Reservation to Fort Totten. For the notl 
part, when firot struck out, the route lay across an opeo^ 
stretch of country that had neither been surveyed oe 
settled, though a few 8eitler« had located where therf 
w«s timber, particularly along Turtle riyer. 



In December, IS7\), a son of Wnrreo Smith was taking 
the mail through to Kort TotteD by dog sledge and he 
had with him a while a&u and a halthreed. When 
crossiug Nei80o County they were ovettaken by a blii* 
lard. 'i'hey had three dogs in the train, but thef 
ioKt the beaten track in the storm. Turning over th« 
ttledge for oheher they Uy out two days or more antil 
the storm abated, and ha?iDg killed one of the dogi 
for food, while another perished, they finally succeeded 
in reaching the cabin of Francis de Molin, a huuter 
i|nd trapper located at Stump lake, and they arrifed 
there in an ezhauHted condition. Here they were cared 
for until they cuuld reach Fort Totten. At Urand 
Forkii, not being heard from for a long ti.ne, it wav sup* 
pOHed that they had perished in the storm until a letter 
that bad been Eieot around by way of Jamestown and 
Fargo arrived there stating that the men were eafe %% 
the tort and that the route was, for the time heiogy 
iu.psb8able. 



OHAPTRR VI. 

SACKCROUND TO THE LAKE SETTLEMENTS 

IN the present chapter a brief survey will be mside 
relative to the tmmeiiiate historic background Ihat 
preceded the •citlementi that began to be made in iht 
•pring of 1882 at 8tuoip lake and the north Bhore of 
Oeviii lake. There was hut little agricultural derelop« 
neot ID the Red Riyer Valley prior to 1878 largely 
Awing to a Uck of railroads asd immigratioo. Whta 
the valley was being Siled with settlers and a railroad 
«raH being constructed from Ked river toward the lakes, 
ithe later tide of inimigration into the valley would 
then begin to think of pushing farther westward, but 
hardly at any earlier period. 

Owing to varions causes the settlement of tbe eaaters 
part of North liakota was quite generally retarded 
during the decade of the seventies. As much as any- 
thing this retardation of immigration to this state wat 
d|ue to adverse reports respecting the nature of the 
country, locust ravHges in the western portion of 
Minnesota and lack of knowledge in regard to the ac« 
tual capHbilities of this northwestern region. Toward 
the close oi ihe decade the newspHper reports concern* 
|ng the yields of wheHt 4>ii the large fHrnis that bad 
been opened in Cass County adjacent to the Northern 
I'acific Railroad, began attraciine attention in tho 
middle western states siace these were in coutradiction 
to what had been published and generally believed 
previimsly. Times were somewhat hard during tb« 
piddle seventies and people were lesa inclined to omi* 



4i MAAtrnt BK81«aT (MP T#«Ji OSVILS L4K8 OOONTftT 

grate ihaa when times were normitl. Meanwhile « few 
hundred people at Urand Forkn waited tor immigratioa 
and for some nhow ot an Hgriculiural development of 
Ihe couDtrj nest of Ked river which seemed long is 
coming, althu two li»e» of railroad had now reached 
the Ked Hirer Valley. 

Oommencing ioiib78, a larger imraigration into lh« 
lied Kiver Valley began setting iu than had eamt io 
any previouii y^amr since a begiriuiog was mada \m 1870 
and 1871 and the tide increancd annually until the year 
1882 inauguraied its fijod tide; but bo late as th« fall 
of 1881 the i;iud wtJMt of (iraod Porki was occapiad 
generally only to the westeru verge of the valley or 
loot of the uplands that stretched thence to Stamp 
and Doviis UVea and beyond. In connection with thia 
aoiigration muvfrneDt » ct^rtnin tuct may be stated. 
The raising of wheat on tbi? numerous small farms in 
southern Minuesuia and imrtheru Iowa ended in th* 
late N«v«atiea a» had \n)«iu the cane before in somo of 
^he older states. Thr sn)t>ll larmers were not able 
to cope with the chnu^ed condiiioos about to ensue aNil 
either turned their pUce^ over to mortgagors or sold 
Them to mors (>rot<peruUA neighbors au'l etnijrr-.ited io, 
hundred- oi CA»en to we^t^rQ >JiaDet«ota and Ualrota 
Territory, the locupt scwr*- Shvhsjr abftt^^d. 

When the railroad gradr:»« had fiiniHbed their work 
OB the oast side of the river at Grand Forks in the fall 
of 187f, they moved their casnpn to the west side aBd 
proceeded Co grade a ten mile stretch of roadhed da# 
west acroHB the valley plain. The building of a bridge 
delayed getting trainn across the river until early io 
^a&uary, ].88U, and then for a few da/i only wb«a (ki» 



tie«r line from Crook«ton was blocked by sbow and •• 
remaiBed UDlil after tbe middle of March. DarioK tli« 
•Hcainer of 1880 the roadbed west from tows wae ireii«4 
And a filUge at fir«t called Sticknej and next year, 
Ojata, was started at the end of the track. In the fall 
9f 1881 the railroad was extended to i.arimore, reaclH 
Ing that point NoTember 22, and on e^nndaj, Dec. lil^ 
7/sgular trains began running. 

In the spring of 1882 Larin>ore experienced a k«ai» 
]^or«rj building and business boom. It remained kk« 
Tailrosd terminus until Ute ibe next fall and in tk« 
meantime became the outfitting point for a wide sc«p« 
<if country to the wcniward extending to Stump mm4 
i)evilH Inkes. The ▼anguarOl of the great emigraiioB 
aooveajewi ol 1882 be«an arriving in tbe early pari •! 
March. Wisconsin and Michigan, Illinois and low* 
burnished large contingent*, and others came froai aft 
^ar east as New York Rtate and as tar south as Ken- 
tucky and northern Missouri. In a large measure thid 
tinflax of settlers wa» the oaujomo of extensive adver* 
Using of tbe country, carried on by towusiie booroert 
xad real estate men. But il should be noted thai th# 
Umes were more fnyorabl** for eucb movements ol po^ 
Alatiou tiian hsd now been the case for several yeara. 

A moTementoi the iucominjp immigaaots began i» 
the sprinor into what if nov Nelson and Kamsey eovn* 
ties and this increased as the summer moatha eamft 
on. Long trains, though one mixed train daily, wer» 
then coming into Larimore, a good proportion of th« 
box cars being loaded with the incoming imniigmnt*! 
•utfite— household goods, farming implemenla, tenltj 
cows, wagons and hyr§mc In geoeral ftiw »#w h9t4» 



dS ■4MJkt d(8tt>ft8 iv 12U. Mtviu Lack cevvTSY 

»i^— — '^— »» I I I 1 1 I ■■ I III I ■ I .1 1 1 I , , 

of I0itlert came well prorided to begin » brief piooe«r 
tife oD tb«ir claino. New roadi or wagon trails wer« 
•cruek out, though in NeUoo Uounty the Fori Tottev 
irall waa aiso in part u»*ed. In aettied weather nuBier^ 
ott<} teana wer« dail^ moving w«'atwarrd loaded with lk« 
•etiler'a outftu, pro?iiion«, lumber and merehandUe for 
atoret. 

The •ame spring the railroad aurfey waa extended 
weft at LariMiore. Ah fir«t stakrd out itcrosaed ihrougli 
What i8 now Adier towu«hip in Melton County. SnK*" 
Grand Forks parties erected a large three-story hotel 
With a tat roof near the 8ur?ey line with l^e intentloa 
of laying out a railrohd village there. The Fort Tolte» 
CCttlV fiassed jast south ot the building and a little faff« 
ther west it crof>sed a shalluw coolie or drainage run etf 
a branch of Uoone river. Probably the hotel did a fair 
business during the teaming period mentioned. Bui 
when the railroad mauMgement came to consider tbo 
levels ot the Rur>ey it wms found that where the linOj" 
would mount to the general height of the oplaBda II 
would rf^quire |;rades stteper than were desirable. S# 
another purvey wa« ordered »hich toi^k ike lice diag^^ 
nally up the f*lope of the hill ccuntry or ncrthwesi fef 
about Aix miles to where ir again turned weat«af4«'; 
This left the Adler hotel that n^uch to tbo aostli ol 
where the railroad now runs and so the bnilAing weal id 
d<ray. It was rreof tho^e hotels said in Aitor 
to have been built in the wrong plae«. 



CHAPTKE VIL 

AROUND STUMP LAKf 

STUMP Uke is an irregular shaped body of waUf 
located wholly within the limits of Nelson County 
And about a doien miles CHSt by south from the eastera 
dud of l>eril8 lake. The length of the lake ffons uotik 
to south is about nine ncile^, though this does not in- 
clude itP western part in Lake township nor an eaitern 
Ihree-ciile indentntiun into VVamduska township from 
near its aio«t southern extennioD. The diflerent parte 
of the lake vary from three-quarters of a mile to on* 
sod ivto miles in breadth. In places high bluff shores 
riue above the lake, crowned with timber, with a wide 
beach below left by the lowered waters, for the aurfac* 
hftP fallen several feet sir <:e the Rettlenrert of the inr- 
rounding country took place. Between Stump and 
Devils lakes there are aome high hills rising from l^ 
to SOO (eet above the firxt onentioned body of water. 

As the last glaciftl epoch wa^ closing the plains wer« 
flooded with water from the melting icoF-heet that had 
covered the iaofi wnd filled river villeys &ud the laka 
basins. iJtump and Devils Itikew were probably inter* 
*)onnected for some time. An »»!'i ^itur? lino is traceable 
ijalf WRV up the blutf of tl e cast »ide of tttump lake 
at the Biimmer report twelve ti»ile« south of Lakot* 
which marks the former height of the glacial aood 
waters in the basin of the lake Itself. At that tinoe 
both Stump and Devils lakep drained Into the Sheyenne 
r^ver and that in turn into the glacial lake Agassii 
which then filled the Eed Kifcr Valley— held tbew bf 



fl nijidY niwfMiv ^f Tim u«f i(j Mu oodsrav 

ill* froBi •( lb* fato4tag ieeAl)09(. From tooie caast 
or other a ioaf (l^aMoatiun (»«trio4 entned *t toBO lima 
after the Ice Age b«€| p^iued %«ejr, duriAf which Boch 
•f |be Ule ^o(tom fr«9 laid bare l|l>4 e (ureel hftd tioit 
io grow upoii i^, Theo (he drj period endedi the \§!k9 
%^aln rose ead tiAhoierged end destroyed the (ureit. Th« 
aVUBpt eod trunks of trees efe visible otf shore ift lh« 
cleAr water a^d wood washed eahar« Id etorne wm 
(lathered ia large <]Baotities h; tbe settlere. 

in ISdl there were but few settlere at Stawif Uk« 
aad of a class who preferred to boTer oa the hordera o# 
ctTilixation. Early conier« into North Dakota oftes 
located in the timber aloDg the lakes and stream* 
geDcraily as squatters Id advence of the goveroAWBl 
survey of the public laods. These locations were aad^ 
to the aeglect of the more vaiueAble opeu prairie law^i^ 
the timber settlers nndAuwbile dwelling io log etbiw* 
which cost but little to couMtruct, one team load of piaa 
lumber sufficing for the ground and loft floors and rpof* 
With the ohink»> between the logs filled with pUele» 
and whitewashed ieside, sucb cabins Bade fairly oom* 
tortabie dw^ittngs. 

We bttve spoken of the stream of prospeetive Mttlerii 
thnt begun teaming went from t.nrimore when thai 
pUce was the terminus of the rntlroad. In the sprin|^ 
two stage lines also began running west from Larimor* 
one of which went to Fort Totteo. One or both earned 
piail so the Fort Totten trail, as a mail route, wae dii- 
Con tinned. In Qrand Forks County east of the uplands^ 
^he settlers in breaking were already obliterating i^ 
where it eruaetd thfir Unde. relecAiiog the VMri^at 



ikiiO^WD tfXPMF LAKH 6I| 

«ragoQ (.rails Co Che •eccioo iioes. Certain correspood- 
eoce with the Larimore Pioneer horn Hiump lake will 
give a good idea ol what was in progress there, ii«>tat>l7 
&i the attempted towDoites and of parties couceroed. 

As early as March 7, IS82, meotioD is made in the 
Larimore Piufieer that M. I. Meodelson ot tirand Votk% 
intended to lay out a tuwD at btump lake and alto 
intended tu establish a big farm around it. The laud 
there was nut yet in market, and all ol the quarters h« 
bad selected except one were a|>propriated by squatters 
iince no one could bold laud uult»fi they bad eatablisb* 
ed a re»idence upon it. Ibe loilowing batch of Stump 
take correspondence dated March 10th appeared in the 
I'ioceer ot March it>, lbb2, which was the fourth issue 
9( the paper. The correBpondecce was from a loculilj 
kt atump Ittke then called the t^arkhurst farm. 

Stump lake is not at present to t>e called Lake Parkbmrtt 
as bai been given out. The petitioo gotten up aaoag tht 
settlers has to be preKCDiea to a bigber power than the Gc»* 
eral Land Office at Wasbington for approval. 

Mr David Olmstead is still here, and is arrangiag mattcm 
^or the tewnsite. 

Mr. Wiliiais Cailvert and UxnWy are all np fro» the Ferki 
and will stay the year. 

Mr. Joseph Hay is teaming between here aad I«riB«rt 
with a new span at good roadsters. 

Col. Maxwell is away on basinets relating tw kis peusiM 

which gives him sobc anxiety. 

Every oDe is 61ing oa bit land which cane into «arkct tkf 
6iti inst. There is great rc)wiciBg alt arwuad. 



40 mkAi,t iii(re»»T op frih^i i>uf ills laks coovtbt 

Mr. MiUi Church [of Larttnore] passed throagli kcrt 
Th»rtda7 ■Q^ Frtday oa a crip to Ue tottth soaae tvtatj 
ailics airaf. 

Mr. Warrea Smith and wife bare retaraed t» their b^ae mi 
the Elk Vallej, after & pleasant stay of soaae tea dayi. 

The new hotel is in shape and carpemter C. F. Ssitli It 
yuttiog in some good work. He has bis hands fall of c«a- 
:4cti. 

The MendelsoQ Farming Compaay are still in earnest witb 
^heir efiortx, aad hare land in the unsarveyed townships ■•«. 

Mr. Charles Haliiner, the "chef de cnisine" of Mr. C. T. 
Hsirria' hotel, has taken a rich claim acaoss the lake near Mr. 

Hebe. Raprager. 

Mr. firmer C. Smith's cosy stepping point for land kaatcrt 
seeking claims Ia the south township is ioctssantly fall of 
teamsters direct from Lariniore, 

The mail service arrircs frora Larimore instead of Ojata 
dow. Postmaster Fox is seeking a more satisfactory delivery 
Rill the tri- weekly is put en the road. 

Mr. Charles Malorey, of Grand Forks, is op to see hit 
homestead, t^i izcdon 22, which has a frontage on the lake of 
half a mile and ha? some tweniy acief> of fair timber. 

Bauj^brnan's lumber yard can supply yoo with loHibeff 
enough to corer your i6o acre jewel. Lumber it arrivisf 
every day, consisting of the same grade of stock that is ob" 
tained at Larimore. 



Mr Walter G. Foz, brother to H. Ashton Fox, ie 
Parkhurst. He is a civil engineer by profefsior, and i« 
rrcently f om Krntocky, where he held a position on ika 
E. I. k B. S. R. R. .V. ,. ^ 



i^MOOhiU tH9HT LiiXB ^1 

Tht Parkktrit Advaacc leel&s ApplicaaU tmt iti tprisf as4 
yvmiaer iiitts, irhich it mailed gratii asd pMt free. It kai 
3h« advaaUKCt aad resources of this fertile ref iaa mhlj Vfittea 
•p ttttder cepiotts k«»diog», aad ineitts a fall perasal. 

The paper referred to in the last item apptara to 
tiskve been a (tpecimea of the boom literalur« of tkal 
period gotten up by interested parties to advertise th* 
IJtamp iake region aod prospective tovnsitea, boiag 
priDt«>d elsewhere rban Ht Stuoip lake. It appears thai 
A lusuber yard wan already in evidecce on the Harria- 
barg townsite. At thf»t period pine lumber wat btisf 
abipperl to eafttern North Dakota from Minneapolii hj 
!bo carload. To reduce bulk in oome measure for tk« 
loo^r haul required, boards were machine^plaoed Ml 
.; oe Ride »o that they cmroe seven eighths inch thick. 

The next biitch of corrt^xpondeuce from the lake VM 
pxinieU in the Litriatore Pioneer of March 28, 1S8S. 

Stump Lakk Locals. 
The sartreyed land in this Tictnity is abont all taken,an4l tht 
Aaly chance to obtain claims is to tqaat, whick the crowds el 
Smiaigraetii are (ioio(( at a lively rate. 

Morth of ittt lake is oce of the fifieat coBiuvrieBitn Dakol^^ 
« tract many miles in extent.* 

The Mendclson Farmiog CoHipany kd soaking preperatle** 
for pnttiDg; up one tacKlred tcte of ice at the propceed tov^ 
site of Stuns p Lake. 

C. T. Harris ta pashing hi» hotel, haflng five carpealeie at 
work He was delayed some by the oen-arrival •f himber» 
bat will have it ready for occopancy abont Ike itst of April. 

Mr. M. A. Walsh has christened a beaatifnl take tktef 
pailei east of Stamp lake. It it one milt Umg wU half • mMi 



(yi tsiKtit tii«TOBT ot run rynmA u4kii oooMTftr 

vide, and it one of the fiaeit dack lakes la the coautrj. The 
oaiae is Murdoch lake — after the original Geos{;e Murdoch, 
Ukte of Larimore, bat aoir of dtump iake. 

Mr. W. A. Baaghtnaa hag done an eacelleat thing for thia 
region bj opectog a lumber yard here. He brings his stock 
from Larimore and sells it at the same price charged there, 
pUs the actual cost of haulinc. The benehis conferred ar« 
appreciated when it is remembered that the nearest point of 
supply is over thirty miles away, and that it is icupossible lor 
e^ery settler to go to Larimore for a load of lamoer whenever 
he needsit, He will soon hare his store in running order 
and will have a good business. Mr. Baughmaa is a live active 
man, full of enterprise, and is pushing things here in a way 
we like lo see. Mare such caeo are needed to develop okt 
country. 

Mr. M. A. Walsh has erected a gfood blacksmith shop ott 
his land, which will be vccupied in about a week bf W. 
Husttns, of MinoeapoUs, « bo is a tirst class workmaD in iroi| 
<Hnd wood. It Is located witbiu forty rods of Harris* hotel» 
where it will be convenient to the public. 

Messrs. Hair and Christie, two enterprising young bch 
ito'Xi MiDneapol(&, have recently located near the lake. Thef 
will do tbetr pnrt in the the boomiof* business, as well as im 
the more substantial vrrk of developing aod improving ihm 
«i:ouatry. 

The Meudetson Farming CocDpauy had six teams anrivo 
tn Larimore Saturday ficm Miiwaokec, which were tsken tm 
their farm at Stump lake Sunday by Mr. M. A. WaUkg tka 
company's superintendent. - ■ 

Tbft MendelnoQ Fafiniaf; Cooip»ny of»«» nUrrt^ t« 



■r ^ ^ \ " • ' ' ' ' ' ' 

W>dj of Uad i>etore t% Wita iu oiArket and Ua<l Iwo aA4 
ft li&it ffiilea of ikk« frouiagd. itie cooapaD^ Goa«i»(c4 
<jf M. L. MeodoUoa, b*muel Ttiai, and o(hiir» uf Grand 
i>'orki»« Milwaukee aod Cniutigu. Tht cvmpaaj w«ra 
particularly ititer«fiied io (h« Waoidttska tuwti«u«n«ar 
Ihe north end ot tLe lake, and thej planued lor Ut 
^Uc« a hotel wiiich waa buiU, and a bank, cblircii ani 
DMsbool house aiiich ware utver built. 

Thus far iu tne e^iutnp lake correspoudaoc^ fthera la 
ao allusion lo weuthtr cooditiotis in March, but wa 
^n gather «oiae concepliou of the uatier from an itCB 
fn the hione«r ot tht> 28d of that Oionlh which U •• 
fotlowD: *'Ihe Fort loiien stage which should have 
,^rriv«d Ust i^ridny ni^ht [the 17tb} can^e last uighi. 
Mr. Murchie reporib the ivnCh vtry heavy, the snow 
aadiy drilled, and in the timber about biump laka, it 
aeema to be luily three l««et deep on a level— -consiCtf- 
able ojore ttoow there than here. Ihe stage betwftBi 
Jaiuestowo and Fort lott«u has seen still harder timeti 
having aliased two trips and the driver spent two oight* 
9u the prairie. We hear that they sufiercd but littk.** 

The publisher's own uieciory of the ending ol tba( 
irinter is to the following etkct: The snow remaiMd 
hi general intact until the last days of March and tben 
under the ii>du(nce ot & wntxi\ south wind and sunhsiB<l 
it n^elted nQ tho ground suduenly, Qcodiog that part of 
(iie Kik Valley near the upiande. Oa the 81st tbe«M 
changed »o as to come strong frcoB the iBorib*ett» %h% 
temperature falling to lero by the morning of April Ul» 
Ire* King over tbe waters, bnt mild weather sooa tBtu«4 
■gMin. Along io tbe niiddie part of Msj tbrM ioehet 
pi know fell which was saveral days ia aiaUiMf tvty. 



di akWL^ AiWtQmt U9 1StiM DB>riL8 L4KB COOVTET 



Pahkhurst, Marck aS^Mstrlf *n of i^s pioneers aro«a4 
tbs lake hare heea to t9wu [Grand Forks] aad filcfl •• thtir 
9lM»ic8 laod boldiags. 

Tk# lake takes up levea aad a half sectiont of tkia tova* 
•ktp (T. 151 K. 60) aod it found to be Iriogcd with abovt 
hrt hundred acre* at timber, consi&ting of oak, ask« da am4 
dox elder, tbe oak peedomioating in many parts. 

T%ccc gentlemen of means from the aeigbborhood «f Cov* 
tegtoQ, Kj., passed through here recently, and will CTeaUallf 
drap a few thousand dollars between here and Devils lake. 

Messrs. Baugbmaaaad Moure, of Larimore fame, weua^er^ 
«taad Will have their hardware store at Mr. C. T. Harris' tkkl 
«acimer, where we may expect to And our town for this year. 

Mr. H Ashton Fox has the s&ic of aa enviable timbtr 
claim ot 166 acres fronting on Stamp lake t% 0Bile» eotaia* 
lag 66 acres of rich prairie, and 100 acres of excellent ti»ktr« 
which is oak, a&h and elm. It is offered for $950, spot catll» 
and the purchasing party must use a right oa it; $$-75 pcff 
acre buys it. 

Sergeant John9oa and Mr. John Myers, tbe govermBtal 

blacksmith at Fort Totten, passed through hers Sunday far ^ 
spell at Larimore and the Forks. 

Two of the Catholic sisters at Fort Toiteo were cspett4 f 
the elements one night recently or the prairie. Having Utt 
the road they camped out through the blast in tbe ileigb vitb 
buffalo robes. The exposure was iatenfc and nearly CMf 
them their lives. 

Considerable activity is being sbawa in creettng farap 
dwellings of ample accommodations lar nat M mnra f aaiilicab 
This boom sbottld be e&coaiaged. 



4SOiyin> btout lasm 65 

The correspondent at Parkhurss Farm was of that 
kind who wrote letters which please editors of weekly 
Socal papers and which printers are apt tc» characterise 
AS being '-good stuff"; but uotortuuately we hear no 
more from this writer until August when a last batch 
of hems was sent tu the Larimore paper. This breaks 
&he routine of nfiairs at Stump lake, especially after 
warm weather had set in, only partially filled in with 
uemsconceiuiug Harrisburg and Wamduska, and m 
communication from the latter point. 

The hotel that C. T. Harris had been building w»i 
.jompleted in April antJ whs reported as beiug full «f 
$iew comers Jn the latter part of that month. 

Early iu Mny the Larimore Pioneer had this to say 
ijoncerning the Harrisburg townsite: "Harrisburg it 
booming. A $10,000 hotel is to go up immediately, 
and a number oi businesn mea have already purchased 
iumber lor buildings. Among the establishments to be 
there at once are a blacksmith shop, hardware, grocery 
and general stores, and a temporary hotel tor use till 
$he large one is completed. A gentleman from Mont- 
real to whom bad been .»ent one of the papers advertia- 
Ing Harrisburg at once sent a draft for fib.OOO to Geo. 
H. VVHlsh to be iuvtsted in lots in that new city. 8uch 
men as Capt. Griggs and McCormack, Hun. Geo. H. 
Walsh and T. Hams, are taking hold of it in earn- 
«fit and it will be pushed vigorously. The site is a 
beauiittti one, with a fine view of the lake and easily 
accesaihle (rom all directions. Two railroads are cob- 
sidered certain by the proprietors, the Grand Fork| 
and Mouse Kiver branch of the Manitoba, which now 
luns to Larimore and the rShejenne Valley road fro* 



66 »4ELT HietOK^ or TUB DC^TUiB LAKB CODIITBT 

Vuiley City." (The editor does not oeem to hftfe had 
it if) miud that Hnrrie had already completed • bote) 
either oa the toiroaite or in the vicinUy.) 

"Morris A Jewett, the well koown lirery men of 
HilUboro, have efttabli»hed a stable here, and opened 
the Htump Lake stage line, making three regular tripe 
per week and as many extra as the public demands." 

June 15->'*Harri8burg is booming. Already eleftB 
husinefia houses are about completed, fi?e of which ar« 
tunning. Lumber, goods and all kinds of Muppliei ar^ 
goini: there at an aatoniahing rate. The men that havo 
ihold of the town^ite are use.d u* making things. go, aad 
^A? U will." 

On Sunday, Jni!© 18. 1882, Ec'^ard W. Day, actinf 

(iudf r ihe Treubyterian Board cf Missions, preached 

At Harrisburg. This wws tbe first religious serTiee io 

*^hat section of country thut tbe Stocop lake settlcre thoa 

far had the opportunity of attondibg. 

j>uriug the mouth of June work was in proirress on a 
Urge hotel nt Wacndu»>kB, called at first the Lakeside 
Home. It was a three story building measuring 54 by 
60 feet of which Joseph Hijy and wife were said to be 
ft he proprteiciH. Ms pes & [versoo opened a geaeral 
ttore on tbe townpito with a good etock of supplies, but 
itbeir store was a canvas tent. A hardware store 80 by 

24 feet waf^ being built Kiid a blHck^mitb shop was do> 
ir^ VufiresiB. hit. L'cdds rpered a brick yard, the 

brick ntac'o teirg uped to vetxer tbe hotel. 

June was the bresking season when the virgin prai* 
tie fx0 ^t<t> turned over and backset in the fall. No 
wtit;(i( crtf ctuld-r ibtt€tiftt, be growQ tbe first ycAr* 



»" i ■ ' ■ 

£l VOttU W i»f Utof Mi CO kaov U kov Ur (&.• StttM^ 
lAk« MitlMf dl^Ttlopf 4 tkeir cUiiiat Ikti first 7*ar k*> 
eMet i»«ildiBf dwUiog^ %ud thelMrt for atoek, kst v# 
&ar« acftrMl/ ASf rtcord io regard io ike m«ii«r. II 
v«« pottikU io grov gardeB uuek ike irti /Mr. 

Uariag ike tunmer e goTernneai ielegrepk liii»«M 
ooBitrucied betveea Fort Toitea aod Leriaiore. Tk* 
^olea were c«i is ike tinber erouad diump aad i)etil« 
lelcet the previout winter. A parij of eoidiere wf 
detailed from tbe fori lo lei ibe poles aad eiriag ike 
"rtre. When thej reuched Lerinore tkey eoMideted 
abeniselvet witkia %ht coofiaee of oiTiliteiWs and r»* 
^eried thai ibej had i>ae nan at Kori Toliea wke kad 
m^% eiperieaeed life of ikab sori for five yeare. Alief 
\be railroad and its telegraph reaehed Devile lake ik# 
g^fcrumeat line wa« takes down, ike polee keiag eeld 
Ke tettlera for fuel. 

^AilDUSKA, Jaiy (7.— A postoffieo hat bceo establiihed ei 
IVaadaika, with ah caterpristog towetieaBt R. Mepee ee 
pMtmaiter. 

The fiac threa-stary hotel iia btivg fi«iih«4 «p mmi will be 
faaaiag id a week or two. Mr. Prceaaa aad hU help ie 
Kiere deaatag ap nad patriag it iate chape« ft will ha eaa of. 
(the fiaest holcli oatiide of i»Mr large cttie« aad wotld be • 
orcdit ta aay,afi«bc». 

Saaaders ft Dodds, two able aatf traatworthy lawper% 
have permaaeatly located hare. Mr. T. C. Saaadare ia tbw 
eld partaer of Streog, the (atcty appoiated U. S. Marshal el 
Dakota and caae here earl^ ta the scatoa badlf broken it 
health. Mr. Dodds is Croat Grand Forks where he has hei^ 
oae ef the most preSsiaeet aad kightf esteeoMd eitiseaa. 



^ aiL&LT aCROBT Of TUB DMTILS LA KB COUIITBT 

Tbe governmeot telegraph from F«rt Totten to Larimore 
it being pushed right through. The poles are distributed 
•early to Larimore, while setting them in the groand Hid 
putting OQ tbe wire is coming this way from the Fort. 

We ha?e the beat road from Larimore to DeviU lakt. 
The stage stopet here and this is the main traveled roate. 
[For the most part this road had been the Fort Totten trail J 

The railroad seems to irave left us to one side and is appar* 
eatly going six miles north of us, bnt we have a splendid 
coaniry and one of th« best sites for a town in the Territory* 
and we have uo fears but what we will always have a fo«d 
bnsiness point as well as one of the principal sttrnmeT rcMiM 
in the whole country, Then, again, this is too good a coanlry 
to be long without a railroad, and we ihope to bav« ob« 
built 13 here before long. 

tn May, 1882, a surveying catnp came to T^rimor* 
((I locate the railroad lioe as far toward Devih lake «• 
the eDgineer of tbe party had in^tructiona to loeat* 
and stake it out, which appHreaily was no farther weal 
IhaD tbe company expected to bo able tu grade and 
iron it that year. The local paper remarked at th« 
time that the party verc v< r> teticfrt in regard to 
tenderitig any inforHiation (<8 to where the proposed 
route w(»uld ruti. That would only become manifest tm 
all after the atakes weie driven, and even then the Hue 
might bubr-fqueotly be chrrpfd, us in fact It was. (p. 
66 ). The first survey evidently did not extend »b fnt 
weat as Btump lake when the party receired orders to 
re- locate the lite which left the lake totbeiootb of it. 
jreanwhile the development of the two towoeites went 
on without any certain knowledge whether the railroad 
would touch either end ol the lake or But. 



UbOCmB ettHKP &AK1 'od 



Stump Lakb Notks. 

fAKKHtftsT FAaM, Aug. 3i.~Mr. WiUiaoi CaWert if 
(mttioiS hit eats, aud finds thqr caoaet help g9tag sevcatf 
hiuhels to the acre. 

The *'Wamdaska House" siga is ia potitioo on the roof of 

ih« big bote! and shows to advaatage. 

Hajing vrlll be carried waf iato September. Late eoatf* 
'^t stackiag for their owa use and to sell. 

Mr. S. R. MeQdelson is bnildine a large SMbetaatial ao#' 
watm stable for his immense herd of itock, of oak logs ihi* 
ireek. 

dnthicg in the lake seems to be exhilaratiag sport at prea* 
«ut. The medicinal properties of the lake are already knows 
to have worked cures. 

Wood sells for Sa 50 per wagcn load and buyers are aeear- 
lag better wood because of the **down" wood baing scare*. 
Live and sound oak fills the bill to-d&y. 

Thai mineralized vegetable matter, coal, has got on th« 
boom again in these parts. Specimens have beea shown «i» 
but a solid vnn of the clear stuEE will demonstrate better the 
?r«th of a bec» of iigait* that will take the place of wood ia 
ear stoves. 

Ex-postns«ster Fox breatbea freely ooce more, he aaya. 
The office after tediods de\»y», hai been taken care of by Mr* 
Cicero T. Harris and transferred to Karrisburg. The ardaoaa 
duties attending it are somewhat lessened now and the Waas* 
dnska mail is not cared for as heretofore. 

Through recent soundings made by Mr. Ashtoa Foa off hia 
Oakland farm the depth of Stump lake was fonod to show % 
uniform depth of 5a feet ever » c«>«widertblc tret pf the l«k# 



bott«a. Skeftiet m\\ plcM« ••!€ ft frcatcr ieplh vbei| 
fatto^. The malftlkomable id«a faftt exploded ktre iMig ag», 
^•d Derili lake kftt it —m, !>tmaip lakt ^tlMi ftppcwi ^ 
V« devoid of ftoae. 

Mr. H. Aehtoft Fox eelli kit tinber for ftvaiUkU pmrpoH* 
1« ft Bovel vajr vhich bids fair to secure kia Urge orders. 
Qak tioaber for butldiag or otker pftrpotec ii figared ftpoft ft| 
Ike price of lio to I15 per 1000 feet board oaeftsare, wkick ift 
loaad to aiaouat to freighting charges 00 a vagon loftd of 
lauber or goods from Larimore to ^^aBad«ska. Parckrscrf 
nest therefore see ecoaomj in bajiag at tke lake. 

Thft ftiience of (he ftbovo correspondence relativt to 
ftny further building on the Hftrrlsburg townsite U as 
eridence thftt the boom there had collapsed, it vae 
later stated in the Larimore paper that nutbing OMirf 
was being done there. The aurve) and location of th« 
railroad line at leftst fts far as the site of Bartletl Ikat 
year demonstrated to those intimfttelj concerned thai it 
WHS futile to expect fto> town of the Icait importanct 
to arise anywhere around dtamp lake. Uairisburg 
and W aaiduska were other examples of an OHtUj •{[ 
money tjrpeoded in wrci g locations atd thai eirtBt I9 
adfertibiug nione amounted to no small eiim. 



CHAPTER VIU. 
tHS MORTH SHORE AND OTHER POINTS 

DBVILd Uk« it a body of MltiBh m%tmt with a f •».> 
eml east aod weft ezteasioa of about ftweaty miltt 
and f aries in width from narrow stretcbca where bridget 
span the water to seyen or more aiiles. The laka baa 
joaoj bay-like indeotatiooe and iocludiof theae it haa 
a shore lioe of about three baodred miles. Qeneralljr 
the water is from 25 to 30 feet in depth but at the lima 
that the settlemeuts were bein^ made the sartaca stood 
aome fifteen feet higher th»n now. The lake has an arta 
of about one hundred square miles and has aa altitoda 
ot about 1424 feet above sea level, not taking accoaotof 
email fluctuations in level. This is over 800 feet higher 
than Lak« 8nperior and 456 feet hisher than Ked rivtr 
at Urand Forks. 

The sonth shore of the take which in plaees is ttrevB 
with large bowlders, rises abruptly into a rolling eona. 
try with hiiU ri^inr from 200 to 275 feet above th« 
lake. The altitude of Fort Totten is 1566 feet. The nurtll 
shore rises Kradually, the country back (ram it beia§ 
moderately level. 

The lowering of the lake iit nttributed to the caltWa^ 
ftion of the country around it, the breaking of the prairta 
•od causing a more rapid evaporation of moistare than 
previously, resulting in the drying up of the drataaga 
coulies. Some steamboats placed on the laka in \$8$ 
could land at Drvils Lake city from that >aar anti! 
|8fll. In 188S the water stood at 1489 feel. In aftap 
years the laka fell ta •aoh^exlent aa (e lay |bart tte 



79 fiUi^r Hu»ro«i (v vus t>«vrL8 vakj& ooavTS^ 



^bHow par.s o( b^tlov Qeiirect to eboire coDTeriisg 
(heci Co mendovs fisd ike iilAi>(jlf Detir the north ahoro 
be£nc\9 parttt of the oiftlciaocl. There were fish of the 
(»ickeral vnriety in the lake previous to 16M>, but they 
were fished out vinters by the car-load throuffh holet 
<;itt ic the iC€ until they were ell gooe. 

The btsin u( the lake 8eeif>ii to have been the inter" 
^[j&cial valley o( the Sbeyeooe river, plowed out by a 
vrojectinfr prong ol ihe last iceiheet that covered thii 
^gioQ ano farther dammed np by glacial drift. Our* 
?Qg the fl<>4»d stage following the misUiogof the icesheel 
DeviU Ittlfit rose forty feet aiiove its present level, flood" 
1p(? much of the surroundiug country. The flood wateri 
from ihiM region ezoivated that part of the Sheyeau^ 
valley i^bove the big bend of thftt river. 

About thi 5ih of Msrch, 1882. J. W. Oswald, wh* 
«ud ftboiit to open a fnrm un the north side of Devilft. 
iKkpi, came to l.Hrimorc tritb ten tenmi for supplea. 
Wiib hin3 came K. Cavuiitiu^h wbo had lived in the 
lake region lor tbirtecu ,vt*ur8 and from 1878 to IfllO 
had beec governcneiit intorpreier for the Hioux wagon 
uains, but wai uow vettled ou a farm near Uswald'r. 
Another old roajdeut vwaft John Ctanie who had beea 
connfctrr^ with rh^ iriMiary post ticro*98 the lake eiaoe 
1867, but was nom- located on the 8he>tnne. This e^ 
^edition of Oswald may bf> connidered as the opening of 
the large frelgbtioc busiDCf^H done during the lollowiaf 
sumirer and fall to the north shore of^ the lake, lo 
iihe spring of 1882 the land north of the lake had ■oi 
been ceded or f^urveyed, but as it was understood thai 
it would become pwrtof the public (loKAin, it ktd aW 
ready begao to b© eqjttatted upon- 



iulf 1662. Liettl. (Veel of Fori Tottea got ont m 
«r<fip of £>«TiU Uke ccd Kftineey Couaty oa wktch waa 
iocate<l/ fav«rat pru«pacti?« tovnsitat on tba aorkli 
ahoro. Wliao kii««e begau tu ba oceupiad aach of Ihaa 
bopod to baooist tbe capiui of North Dakota* kha aortk 
talf of tha tarrrltorj baiof already to called ia prist. 
^ corih and a Houtk aiata wai a? en than aatiaipaiad. 

P. Morris whs tbeo runoiog tbe etege line fron 
t,Krtniore to tba take witb reltt>« of burtei at Adler't, 
Wamdunka, the Narrown aad MioaawaukoB, the Uttaf 
!« tempoiHr^ toarosite funr udUu eaet of Devils Lake 
City. Morria uacd «i^hteeo head ot hornea. Hia staga 
loft Larimore daily at five o'clock io the moraiag aa4 
;«:iicli«d WitirtduRkA at uouB. The same Bboath Jobfli 
"ijoiefTtaot aaa carrying the mai\ from Lariaoore to Fort 
rotten, taikiujc «<i mi- sfoekly trip^. Hia hack left at 
i»:0(> (!4. iQ. Monday a aod Tkiircday^ arriviog at Fori 
Tuttfco TueedftjH aod Friilaym. 

During tha aummer mo&thii the cimatry adjaoeat to 
the north »bota ot the luke waa receiTing a coaaidar^ 
able acceeaica vi t^HWrv^ v.i^cvt i)fa»e«t point foi 
<rbtAtniuR «upplie» wr« *! Lariaiora over aiity nalUt 
diatant. A.% that tiajfe cata pa b»d been edtabliahed 
4loQg the liJi© oi the railrckd aurvey and ganga of maa 
•ere at work grading the ioadbcd. Ihe (cllowiag ia- 
*foraiatir.n in regard to aflaira at the lake wa« publtahed 
in the Larimore pnper of Auguat S, 1882: 

**On Toeaday aome gentlewen were In from Darilt 
take !Tcn» f^hrap The Ptrae^r leatopd tb« particnlara 
«»f the new town of IVvila Lake CHty. w the north aida, 
aome tbiee or four irilee wntbeaat of the aita of Grael»^ 
burg, at giyen by 7iet£(. Oree|> exeetleot map. 



/i iilUkfcT antUBT or XUM UIsTILS lUAXB OOOSTBT 

**Tbe town ii »Urted by seferal ieadioK Chicago sad 
dt. Louie cttpiUlUto, who Are making permaaeat lai^ 
provemenU and putting up good buildings. Alraadf 
IfroitorM are tbere—Makee A, Ferkiaa of Fargo, gaa- 
aral cwra^ and Campbell & Leach, hardware. 

*^A good hotel ia nearly cuatpletcd. William Storm 
toft Larimore Monday with lumber aad material for 
\i^9 third ature. 

*'The company compriaefl Mutjor T. 8. Bcabam, of 
Chicago, manager, 1). W. Kniign, W. A. Haatiagtoa, 
O. M. Wtils, J. B. Seacbritt and others. They havo 
about three sections of land* with a nagaificeat soil, 
;he depth of which is three feet at Devils Lake City. 
«nd A large tract of splendid country. The site i» od a 
high beach, where clear water of the lake washea Ike 
grnveliy fthore. FiUy feet trom the shore u a spleadi^ 
ttnchora^ce in deep water and a good harbor, and ftttj 
feet back from the lake of ^alt water is a lake of Ireah 
Water, fed by springs, and coiziprisiRg about an acre. 
'The location h in the center ol U»insey County, aD<9 
it is the most accessible fpr both railroads and'Veasela 
from any other point on the lake. Morris' daily stago 
line frort; Lafimore will rue to tbift point regularly, 
beginning in three or four days. 

"The view of the lake if: mB^rifircot, extending from 
the Narrows nearly to Fort Totten. 

••Mr. Kosign keeps ten or twelve horses to carry poo» 
pie about and show them the country. Settlers aro 
iloeking in by scores. Families are beginning toarriw 
and Mpjor Benbam's will be there soon. 

* 'As sn evidence that the people have faith io tha 
place, a Norwegian sold bit claim thort the otkar 4%f 



till ttoaim cMOtttt kVio ofaas poivrt 7A 

Cor $1.00U to L, P. tlftBiaaood. of Quthrie Ceuttr, Iowa. 
Mr. HaiDBioad hu Urg^e fftrcuiog and abtUftct inleretif 
ia Iowa, but purpocea to stand by DeviU Lako Cily* 
ao matt«r what tacrificei are needed. D. W. Saeiga 
will aooB open a lumber yard there." 

Oreel City or CreeUburf four milea northwest froa 
De?ila Lake City and acroaii a bay, waa another of (ha 
pruipective towns on the north ahore, started by Ueul. 
Creel that auoioer. Lieut. H. M. Oreel, who had boea 
Wcated at Fort Totteo, reaigoed a good position in (ha 
regalar army to eofrage io the deveiopnaeot of the north 
ftbore region which had begun to attract cooaiderabit 
atienttoo. Here be opened a large farm stocked wi(k 
flooded animals, a soore iR)p(;rtaot eoterpriae thaa (ha 
|owasU« earned out to be.) 

Correspoiideoce. Urimore Pioneer. Aag. 17, IMS. 

The Devils Lake country is beginning to be realised as • 
fcry attractive region. People are getlins their band ia al 
the bmtiness of starting to«vn« and are going at it systenaatic* 
ally out that way. On the north side «e now have strnggtteg 
lor ssprenacy Narrows, Micnewaokon, Devils Lake City, 
Creelsbarg, Gtand Hatbor and we do not know bow many 
more. 

The Narrows is taking a little different course from sone 
othera, and are trying to keep oct booms and are reported to 
be ready to kill ofi boooaers — prefamabiy waiting for the 
)aad to come into nsarket or till some good railroad project 
shall loom np like a meteor. 

Here at the Narrows are oar friends, F. A. and L. C. 
Dessert, who have five claims on the lake. Here are also 
interestrd the irdcf?<ip>He CoJcrel Tcweer, Capt. Griggs. 
Jad LaMoare, Geo. H, W aUb, J. S. Cshelmaa, W«. Ud^ 



' 1 " ■ ' ■ ' — — — — ^ — -— -" 

And i( «troag St. Pnal cocnpany. The proposed citf it f te 
cftUfsii Park B^j. A forrf boat ij taildim (• gift a iIimI 
L'Cttto to Fort Tottea. 

Amoos tht CKcetteat things doing there avv li the W«il4i«f 
ai several large, oabstanttal dwclUagt. F- A. Dessert %a4 
Jake Eshelisaii ftre both building good ones, while the St. 
?aal company is building several large ones. They are bo« 
haulicg lumber from Larimore and by fall vill have a &•• 
allowing beride the beauiifal lake. Forty or fifty mca ar« 
aow oa \ht land, and some $10,000 will be spent in improv*^ 
sneots this lull. The country cronnd the Narrows is vtrf 
'\as, with a good supply of good timber. 

Aujuiit 17. "Jobo QordoQ, of Kreahwater lake, b is 
lon^n. He Hud his brother WlMiam have about 1,500 
tcr<*« elf \tir\d aad bkve broken 100 acres tbin Mummer. 
H« reports siity families Hviug around the )ake, which 
has twenty-eight mileii of ahore Hoe. In bia vieinitf 
from 1,200 to 2 000 acrte are brokeo." 

About the middle of September there wa» raited a 
fonsidert^ble excifemeD^ araottg the Devite lakeeeitlere 
owinsr to act order i^sufd by Uan. Terry to ^ar^ey a atri^ 
!•*( country ten eniiffi wide ftdjaeeDt to the north shore of 
^he lake t-^ bo li.fded to the I'ort Totten Military re^er* 
fatioD. The object peema to hsve beoa to prevent the 
pettiorft, now ftmoiintirtti: to fievera! iiundred, appropriaC 
in^ tbe timber alopjr the lake. The order was insued os 
(ihe reconrerdaticp of Got. Ordway. Proteeta were aeol 
ftp Waehinpton and early lev C^jtober the order waa re« 
i^irded aa It was aacertaloed that moeh of the laad had 
alreedy IrefD ccfuf iec* ly pettier*. Tte ee^e vootb 
4 he purveyor grereral ordered the iurvey of several 
tcf^nfebifBon Ue aorth «hor9 9^ UoviU lake. Eigbl 



iM» moMfiR NVOAii AWD ormsft roivtii 77 

4ft«r T«rrjU order wai resciDded a Urge number of 
acw settlers begao arriTing io that region. Tve iewB* 
•hips had beeo scripted at UeTils lake. 

September 21. *'R. M. Cttlderwood from Ae«ir the 
:M arrows, has come in to Larimore where h« wii^ spend 
^te fall season threshing, etc, Ue has a good claim 
9ttt there, with leTenty tons of ha; made thie jear,a»4 
he proposes to winter there/* 

DtTiLs LAKt Notes. 
[AhUko the correspondence comprised in the three letters te 
iht Lanxnorc Pioneer that follow are dated at Minacwanken^ 
9^A attesapied towntite near Devils Lake Cit j, thej ciridcatlf 
9oaeet& the latt named tettlemeet more tkan any etksr. The 
\\9va» certainly do net concern the Minnewankon settlcaeai.] 

MmNSWAUXON, Oct. 3.«>Mr. Wehc, the Chicago man, 
had bis house oo his claim burned on Snnday in his ahsencCt 
consuming many things valuable to him. He has f^one casi 
fur a short time, bat will rebuild before winter sets in. 

The teams of Campbell ft Leach are coming in with heat* 
lag stoves and other material for our winter comfort. 

Mr. Simrall, of Kentncky, has finished his &n< honse [neat 
Devils Lakr Citv] and ts read} for winter. 

The two houses of Dtaa and son, from Illinois, are beth 
enclosed and will be finished in a short time. 

Mr. Massacre, of Illinois, stopped the farther progress ef 
his house on account of the military survey and will coatiame 
to live ia his small but comfortable log shack for the viatCf. 
He broke 50 acres this season. 

John ChrisTOpbersoe, from Mincescta, also has sespeaded 
the hu tiding ef hit ether heuf« 00 accomat of tbe military 
survey. 



ft AAiUiW siMt«ft7 otf, 'gvm CHi^^noLs lakh ooobtst 

Mr. Volgt, of KilvraukM, renaios «ad tuM Itt the c«atrMt 
for bnildiQ]; A clothiag aod dry i^^ods store ia tevn, aad feui« 
MAt for bis soa to come and take a data •«( from !•«■. 

S^f" Bcah&ia bas fiaisbed tl% bouse and got bis tmmilj fta4 
4oae»tic belp ber* nad opeocd a botel aad sta£c bo«se, aa^ 
aoir i(7&Teietc aad explorers batre sweet rest alter stagiag tk 
diAj from LancQorc. Tbe Beobaia boase is tbc tbiag far tti. 
Since tbe axrivai of Mrs. Beobam and tbeir little daagbttr 
Minnie tb« town U ret oiatieoiscd-- old babits broken mp 9mi. 
oew ones fornacd. 

Makec ^ Perkia*' teams are cuiaing in with wiattr in^flivk 
^f groceries, dr j goods and clotbiog for tbu regiaa. 

Mr, ?r&ak ^ilskie* a geatienan from Gcrasanj, gaaa ahaft4 

iR tus ciAizn also 

J. 3 P&ckard on bie ««Cl^ilboiib Place** is readj forwkilc?. 

Tbc ferry a< GrahaniR island, between bere and Fori Totlaa^ 
i» now run witb a cable, which wat pat on tbia week* 9m4 va 
can now croM ia spite of wind and wave. 



MiMNKWAUKON, Oct. 30.>-Edward Smiib's boMC aad 
9heds, between bere and the Narrows, were all swept ai by 
% prairis fire on (be a4tb inst. — a very hard sta?! lor tbe caa^ 
iag winter. 

Sqnads of sirang«rii are becccxing h fansiaur tigbl •• tb« 
aortb shore. 

Mr9. Makee with her little b<.7a arrived from Fargo lb« 
l^st week to enliven tbe town aad assist Mr. Makec ia bia 
eaterprise. 

Mrs. Dana, tbe vife of F. L. Daaa, alto arrived last veek 
aad it is nadentood oaakes tbia ber peraaaeal boBt. 

Otberr-^wbote f«A>ilie«r-are ce tbe way here to wiateraa4 
itaj. Wbea tbe ladiiee break tbro«^^ aAd ^wm <nte a eomatff 



Tfiii a&«eifs baoea 4Up orrtiSa. i^iSM 79 



^o taake it their boi»c that couotry has pasted the KsMcM 
Mid U tfecfi a part of the civitiiecl »orld. 

Tb« first birth of white parents on this shore ocenrred itt 
'4ae family of Mr. Poole, of Reck island, during this mootb. 

Aajong the arriTals to b* ootcd is the return of Mr. Eoslgft, 
?awn proprietor, from the Kad bnrial of his wife at Geneva, 
Illinois. 

Lftiaber arvi^ed yesterday for a real estate oflBce t© b« 
>p€oed by Council & Eaton, which will be built imntediatcly* 



MiNfWWAUKON, Nov. 12.— The name of this lake by tbf 
ladians is Minnc Wakao, the strict interpretation of which is 
Water :»ptrit, or Spirit lake, bat tb« Yankee or some one tU»» 
^Bs tbcnipht that this was an impircvc»eoi or gain in callivf 
BiisRsming it Devils Uke. 5 cats' t see the point, ualtsi it 
is to £ee«re huge roocj for thec^teives by a forbidding save, 
which «70ttld perer.it the apprcjich of bk Satanic M9)«aty*s 
people. 

The Fas39tt brothem opeiied their ase&t market this week. 

Ice began fofrotng along the eboio of the lake yesterday 
•nd to-day. 

Capt. Hecrwf »♦ after hia vkit here for the eaamfoation of 
Che lake, left tor the ea*t this week, to perfect his plans for 
building a sleamtont Ihia winter for the lake. The eater* 
prise is io Rood bands and the prospect is that eacursion and 
picnic parties will e^it»te the cool waters of this long biddea 
lake daring the cect Bucrner tnoolbs. 

On ftaturdiiy, Kovw.ber 11. 166^2, Odewa tow«aH» M 
ibe Nwrrowa wan incorporated and caplt»IiB«! at Tw© 
if ilHon dollars. The Ircorporator* were Ale«, Ori%pi 
of Grand ForM, pr«ide«t oC Oi© towosite oompaoj; 



40 BAMLX BtttOST Of TflU DITXU LaKI COUVTBT 

Ueo. H. WalthofUraod Forks, vic«preiideDt; F. T. 
Walker, of Dubaque, (owa, secretarj and ireMurvr. 
iHoArd of dlrecfors: Alex. Gricprs, Wm. Badge, Oeear 
M. Towoar. Jud LaMoure. J. M. Waldroo, and F. T. 
Walker. An esecutive coniEoittee wat Included con* 
lilting of Jud I aMoure, Ueo. H. Walsh and O. M. 
Tuwner. The last named person, knowing aomethiBg 
^ a Eusdian whent port on the Black Sea in that coun* 
try, sU((K«Bt«d Odessa for the name of the protpcctW* 
«U7.* It appears that there was some building dost 
on the townsite, and much «a« promised for the placB 
that aaw no realication. In Noveiaber, M. £>. Flint ol 
itarimore opened a hotel there. 

.^n(.>tber settlement called Orand Harbor wae nadt 
;hat (all neven miles westfrsrd from Detils Lake City. 
^K the hoAd of dix Mile or Tellers bay, which at thai 
:ime indented the north shore of the take. The towB 
at firs: cuuftisted (»f two saloons and a poMtoifiee. Th« 
townsiie was reported t<» be located on rising ground 
that commanded s good view of the bay and that good 
water could be obtained by di|arging wells tweWe to 
twenty fe««t deep. The adjticooi country that iall eoo- 
ti|ined about W) inhsbitantu within a radius of three 
miles and these settlern. coming in the spring and tarly 
summer, had broken tea Ut ^ixty acrtis each on their 
claims, sftgregalmg between 1,500 and 2.CKX> acres. 
The land not being in nmrket, that containing tb« 
townsite had been scripted. 



• As loDfc SKO as ItM Prof. Williaa H. Keatlnc. the historia« 
•f Major Look's expedition to Pembina and Lake Wlnnipef , made 
(dUuaraatng remarks In regard to the foil? of the Aaaarican habit 
•fadoptlTiKroreifrnaanieftror new places and repeatlnc oihecf 
from «ute to state as the setttesaeaU adraaeeii wsctward. 



v^ areata m^ tm mto oram roxvM B| 

9ov«inber SS. **Wai. F. SiaraU and Major U. W. 
Snaigo of UeriU lL«ak« Otty, wera ia towa and rt pari 
^Udias ffoiag oo ac a rapid rate, tkough aa yel Aoat 
»( tha butldiugA ar« amail owiog to tba difficallj and 
vapaaaa of haul lag lunibtr frooa Larinota." 

Dariog the spriog and Bumaier of 1862 the eadof Iha 
;raUroad had reomincd at Larinore, hut gradiag aa far 
aa Baxtlett had btcxi ao well advaoctd that the layiag 
df tha track bt>gaa early ia i5eptenber aad waa carried 
about nine oiilet northweat ol Lari»ore to a coalie 6S 
feet deep Id the middle, over which a large Ireetle had 
\o b« built, also a siDaUar oae not far beyond that. At 
a oonvtraction train carrying bridge timbere coaldadv 
tea«h the larger coulie the track laying force with their 
trains drew t ff for abont a aidiith and went to iniah a 
part of the iiraud Forks A. Winnipeg line to the aarth 
of Qrafton. The trestles having been completed, the 
lorce returned iu October and laid the track aa far at 
the aite of Bartlett. 

The track ended for that year within 21 aiilee el 
Defile Lake City not haTiot been graded farther weel 
that the point to which the track was carried that fall, 
A Tillage called Bartlett began to bnild op there, eo 
named for Frank Bnrtlett on whose land the place vat 
located. In December trains began running there etch 
alternate day, bat about the middle of Janaary a ttarM 
blockaded the roed to the west rA Larimore owing to a 
lack of onrw fercce tc protect cuta and waa oat ag ai» 
opened until abcut thsendof March. 

Lat« in tbo fall of 1882 Capt. Heermaa rUiitd Devilt 
lake to infe«tlgafe tbip bcdy of wtter for ettatBhottiaf 
purpoeas. Early jo Ne?ea&her he itfl Uf€ Uklmwkm 



3% ■ikBLT Ilib-rOKT OW tnU DliriUI LhKH COUKTET 

\o ftrraoge for briiigiog to t«3« l&ke a small tteamer. 
This boat, called tbe Arrofr, wa* partially taken to 
jpiecet and when the railroad had reached Bartlett iraa 
brought there od fiat Cars aod later vraa hauUd acroaa 
<bo prairie to Kock island^ or peDiDsula, for rebuildiag. 
h took eight days to get the boat (ram the end of the 
track t<» the lake. 

fORT ToffTIN AND THK RSSSBTATION IN |8ta. 

lu 1862 FortTotten was ^rarrieoned by twocompanlM 
jt cavalry and oneoi iufantry under comtBaod of Major 
). 8. Courad. Major J. W. Cramsie was the Indian 
4gent and accompanied the eaiHTaus going for suppliet. 
i^ron Heart was the Indian chief nt that time aod claim* 
^d tp hare eighty familit* ucidor his charge. He had 
a Qeld of twenty acras in crop that y«ar. \t the In- 
dian agency there wai a good school conducted by th« 
Uray liun listers who had 60 to IK) Indian children in 
charge. Connected with the ichool a good farm iraa 
operated, much of the work ou it being done by pupilt 
9t the schoo). 

The fort WRi not a fortifteation but a group of brick 
(WO'Story buildings, quarters for the garrison, hospital, 
inedical dispensary . quarierfnaster'e storehoufte, officeni 
residences, Riid poet cuuimander'tf oflice, all arranged 
around a square which served for a parade aod drill 
ground. Under tbe hill iieitr ike Ute waa the poel 
trader's store then kspt by W. >4. Peek and Mr. Sharp*. 
The Indidos dwelt iti log houses, but had tepeea for 
aummer use. There esisted there at that tian thn 
OfiginaljiuRrters 6rst used by the Cruopt but ihtm 
butidinfre were now «(«e4 f97 tVore houiee. 



can sosric t-wyAt khu othii^ tonm S& 

Heplembftr IStb Mnjor J. W. Cramaie wm in L«ri« 
CQore vitb thirty ee&ros ioe UdiuD iuppliea and aU« 
took oat ao ffBgioe ftitd fio^riog mill mtichiDerjr fur (b« 
reaer^MCiun. The IndtAQ ctraTaas now weak to L»ri« 
4»ore, tbe supplies for iUe miUtar/ and iadiaa reterva* 
MoKiB then aucuLtiLg lo 4Ct tcLS f er jtar. 

From a report made by Mrjor J. >V . Cramaie we eaa 
^leac oome particulare coDceruioK tbe IndiaB reaerfa' 
•Aon for th« year under oouBvderatioo. He stated tbal 
aboQt l,5iK)acrea were tbeo uuder cultivation, tbecropa 
feeicg upproxiniately id tltkd piojpoiinti: Wbeai 
600 bcr^s; o&t£ 81^; corn ULi): potatoes 200, and abool 
70 acres ic vegetables. The products approxiwated at 
toilowe: Uhtat 10,000 bufsbele; omU 12,000; cofo 
lO.OtH) »nd potatoee *Jfi,(Ji:0 buftfeels. Tbat year tbe 
indianfl brcfce about 447 liCfta of uew land. The land 
0>9t apart ioc the agency conQpriaed 20 aerea and that 
tor tbe Indian acbool 200 ttcrea for the prodaciioo ol 
grain for government atcck and veKet&bles tor tbe 
school. 1 he rtuaipder wft^< divided into five fMrmiug 
districts etch under the charge of an iudiao bota fat* 
eaer. 

From September 4, U8l to August 81, 1£«2, freight 
to the aw ouct cf 271, 000 pounds for the tort and trad* 
«r^s atore had Ix-en Leulcd rrcis J»tj'ekt<.vn fcS? Bcilet, 
and from f^rimore 65 milee dietaot. The Indiana alt* 
cut aed htuled 1 126 corda o( wood for the tgeoey, griti 
•pd ttir mild a^.d the school, beeid«»lfeft lor the %%m 



CHAPTER IX. 
AtlfMRS IN EIUHTV-TH&BS 

N)!:LBON 0>ouDty haa 8unietiiD«« l>e«A referred !• 
io « prerions ciiapt«r a« tbough io eziauoce in 
2h8E. It »tt6 coiiVtLitstt to do to bj wiiy o( enlicipe* 
tioo to prevent fltoctUKioii ui idcM in reltttioo tu » boV 
ircU kooivo geograpbical are». Io 1(^82 Btunnp lefce, 
ftow wboll) io NeUotiCuuntj, waa ibeo wbully witbia 
tbe iifiLtta of humify CctiLty. Nel»cQ Cuuoty wAe 
treated by tbe territorial If^inlature February 27, 18^8, 
aod bsoifi] lor (ion. h. K. N«-lto& of I'eBibioA. Ta 
toron heitioo County, tbree raogea oi toi«ii8bi|>a wer« 
tAitco from tbe west tide u( itraod Forks Cou&ty, part 
of xma rat»g(B from ibe east aid« of hamaey Cou&iy •d4 
four towfi^hips iroKi l*ctter touDtjr aa Ibea buuftded. 
The project was eD)(ioecred in tbe IcglBlature by O. H. 
TowD«r and tbe neaaure «vMasaid at the ilvie to bev« 
bcco toiwaidcd in tie ittttttftt ot tof^naitt t^eculatore. 
Id Janoary, 1888, the county coiroQit»ioKi«rs atet «i 
l)e?ilB Lake City f»r tbe purpore of orga&iziof Hattaey 
County. Tbe con otiryioocra were U. W. Boiigo ol 
txvilf) f.Kke ('ity; K. V. Barton uf Freubwater [t^weet' 
irater] Lake, and T. C i4a»nder» of WamdQaka, tbie 
piace tbeo being in lUcntey r«oartiy. The c(>«imiaei«o« 
*Tts finally agreed upon ibe fcllof»lt>g appoiataieste; 
Hegiater of deeda. J. H. lercivai; Frobate judge, Tbof, 
Cha&dler; Juatict^ of tbe peace, E. U ftgner, (3lra1ii4 
Herbor and Tboe. fei^c^tt, t>eTila leke City. Pot 
0MiKtabl«« r. Wartcof UcHp^ Cif^bor wm} T. ('%«09ll 
<v«re appointed. 



AiP4i«8 till aioxTT>mBSi 85 

Following lti« orf AniiAtioD a wraof le broke out al 
t>»?ilt Lake City o?er the matter^ some elainiof that 
the eoHoty had oot be«D legally orgaoited aod othera 
that it had. Besiden, there were other eomplieatioDt 
%'here different individuals were eenceroed, and tha 
«*heTiIs lake troubles" as the conteations were called, 
^atiiiu«d into the spriog moDibt. At one stage of 
Ibis couoty wrangle, Id March, Sheriff Jeoks came fros 
(J rand Forks and made arrests of certain maleontentt 
but they were admitted to bail. Here some declared 
that the sheriff of another county had no legal right to 
eater Bamsey C(»unty after it had been organised and 
arrest and admit to bail any of its citizens; that ezi«t* 
)Dg troubles were an affair ol their own coonty and no% 
of any other outiide of it. Matters at Devils Lake had 
2or some time attracted the notice of territorial papers 
at a distance, and hence eliciied the follewinK editorial 
la the Larimore Fiunerr of February 18, 188S^: 

** Jast here we wish to ^ster a protest agaiott the cvtrlastiag 
witrriag about Devils Lake. The people oat there arc ecr* 
Uialy aaxiona f^ buiid up ehcir courtrj sad bneg is a geod 
class of prople. Fat b)' ^bcii wrss^Uog they are 6t)\ng all 
possible to convioce the world iii lar^e that theirs is actaally 
the Devils owa couotry. If they persist lu their iafersal 
8iot>s, shooting scrapes, shanty harr^tigs, etc., people caaoot 
but be convinced that the De^iU Lake country is inhabited by 
a band of roogbs and that a deceit Br.ac's life is not safe 
there. They are fast winning; a reputation to vie witb Dead- 
wood, Leadville or Vir^iria Cit^. North Dakota has wen a 
fair aane for the escellence of its inhabitants and all respect- 
able people regret to see tbe settlers of Devils Lake, one of 
the best portiQoa of the Territory, the one foal blot •• Di^ 
iota's nsap. 



M SA.KLY UlBVaBY OV YUfl DSTILH LAKS OOUNTBT 

"JaruBalem it a postoSice ni the eait eud of the Uka, 
Op« 9to<r6 and a log hotel compriiie the towo. 

'^Odessa is a newly laid ouC to^To with great ezpecta- 
itioas. i>fer $50,000 worth of lots bafe been sold there 
within two weeks. A powerful Bjndicatw has hold of 
ihe towo aod i<i boomiui^ it aa bo other town ha« erer 
beeo boomed. Maoy storen, hotels, oewnpapers, rail- 
{toads and other iocideotais to a city are projected, and 
Flint's $15,010 bote) ii now building. The town will 
certaioly amouDt to soi&ethiDg aod will likely be an 
luiportaiit city." 

This was early in Jauuary, 1888, when the end of th« 
railroad had baited for the (tinier at Barllett. Daring 
ihat aioor.h some of tbo newspapers in the Territory 
6«$aB to detiauQce thc' a&ie <«f lots in these aborli?t 
towufihtp, or what afterwards torsed out to be sach, M 
]Msiug no better than fraaduleia^. The lavish outlay of 
aiooej upon uncerti&inties showed faith in the future 
9f the country and this may require au explao^tion. 
The wheat crop of 1861 in ilio Ked Kiver tier eouotiea 
of North Dakota, much of it /aised on Tirgin soil, was 
a prood one and sold in the valley for $1 iK) per busbei 
<fMid where kept over till «priog and cleaned in a fanniag 
mill, it gold f«.r ft«€<J wheat at tl.25 per buobel. Now 
this yield and prices (rave the boomers of I88;u a tangi- 
ble basis to woik upon in their circHilars and literature 
sent brosdcset to the esstetn etatee more or less tine- 
wred with f a^pfferatioo f.rd rhicb pec pie already ser- 
«ra4 y«nrB in the country were not permitted to see. 
There fhould also be taken Into consideration the vea- 
tiures<»inee|»irit of «*.e tires. It »e« a Iwn^ year for 
1>uil<<lrfr, for toact^lief' f»Dd ataftin^ big fsrmssnd new 
coiners v^iib mooe;^ «»d exaggerated ideaa i«i refird lo 



<Ui« future of fche ecvusitrj were apt to risk ibtirfaa^i im 
projectfl where & yeer or two later thej used more cam* 
tioo. AroBud f>e?il8 lake the boom apirit did ■•! 
Mirvife the spring of 1S83. 

By the eerlj part of March Defile Lake had mad* 
Aoore further progress, as macj at twenty bnildinfa 
oow having b«en erected. At that time the foilowiag 
ttasioee* plecss were eDCmerated: Hotel, Major T. 8, 
lienhsm; (rroceries and general merchasdise, Makee A 
JPerkioA; hardware, Caoipbell & Leach, and W. W. 
Moore;* drugs and general mfrehandise, K. W. Be»> 
eett; meat snarket, Tho^. Fawcrtt; real estate and lav 
cficeji, Judge J. W. Benoett, Coancil A Saton, aad 
He^ &. <;haad!er: hlacktiinith shop, Mr. 8haDley;taiWf 
shop. Mr. Vutft; saloons, Wra. Storm, aod Bolster. 

CorroapoUil«^Dce, Larlmore Ploae«rr. Aprils, ItS). 

Freshwater Lake, March 3o.-»The weather is beaatifaW 
and the land enplcrers are fin'-kinc intoonrcotiatrjaadseeer' 
SOS homec. Among the ne«v arrivals are Jcha Barleo aikl 
Joho Wolf, of Streator. Illtfjts, who la the fntore »ill make 
cbfir>hoise oo thr north shore of the iake. 

Postmaster f A. Lrnrkc h ecoectec* hcnse In a «)«y or twe^. 
He wat seen \n Bjirtlett oo Werlnesf^av aei^ nafii the offee will 
tc opened \ctvatdi%i^\j , He « ill <^<9o t^iid a store ea Ike 
iake this uprtnf;. 

It it motored that there w\\\ be a staf^ ro«t« established 
from Bairtlett to Sweettrater lake. We hope this will he a 
saccess, and vndcubtedl; will be a f(eod paylaf baslaesa. 



• W.N. Moore ar<1 W. A. Rserhflnan, the Intter prerloncly 
mention^, were OMo men who rsire to Larisaore ia tke late fall 
•f 1861 and opened th« first kiardware store la that town. 



^ BAMLJ «i4(fM>icT or rum nvnts lakr country 

J. E. Locke vifl enUri;e his booie to accommodate new arrl' 
V«li, %s sooB as the «r«atbcr will permit. 

If ref»orts are true, this couDitjr mill be flooded with peoplo 
this sprisg. A large colony is capected in a itw .days inm 
IJHnoii. 

[As was asual with these oew settlemeets, a towa was ea« 
pected to be started at this lake. A iocg iolet to the lakt 
ctteadtDf northeast needed to be bridged and this ttrnctnrt* 
when built, would be about 400 feet io length. A &oe conAlff 
<vas flaiined to extend northward fio&i the take.) 

While the end of the track wav ttli) at Bartlett, M^ 
grading hHTing beoD done watt of that place, it was 
•Hoticipated that iom« one town would aria« oa t^ 
ttortb obore of the iaka that in growth asd SmportanM 
woisld chifTMtely outstrip all eompetitori. BataUtbla 
would hare to depend upon direct railroad commuoitao 
(ion and in tho ftpring of 188^ the preeieo course thai 
the railroad would take when the next advane* wa« 
Jbade, was a matter nf doubt. 

l^ewspapere entered that field that fprlofr. The ftret 
one itarted in any of the north ehore aettlemeiite waa 
about the 6r»t of April, it waii called the Creel City 
Inter-Oceao, published by Bickbam W. Lair. At Arat 
it waft probably printed eWwhere than Creel City and 
liter wBf» moved to Devile l.ake. About tlvaant tia« 
ft proper called the Fartlett Tione* conrecebced pttblica* 
itoD at that plf<ce. Thetif efforts were followed April 
2<lth by a paper called tbe DetiU LakeOtobeof 14rao4 
Herbor, a eii coltuno folio, publiebed by A J. Gareer. 
In May e purer r»fBr;ed the fioneer-Preee wee started 
at hf vIIp I f Ve City which ^lace eeen^a to have been ^ 
little late to hew$ acccik oicdste^ vitb • local paper* 



£n April Creel City wasstrifing to retain A place od 
ibe luap. AlleD & Leonard of Dayton, Ohio, were thea 
^uiUiiDg a Urge hotel; J. C Kloio from Larimore opeo' 
id a flour and feed store; the towoiite company built A 
Sne olBce; a itrocery store wan doing & good buMineas 
aud Stone ^ Ferris, Grnod Forks nuen, made arrange- 
saents to open a bank there, titrangera were eoB^ing 
in by etfcry stage to inye<itigat« proapeetn, probabl/ 
mred there by boom advertixing. 

"Here Hx- Lieut. Creel has an excellent large log 
lbou»e, it^tble ai d blhcksoiith's shop, with plenty of 
blooded h^rsea and riga. Hia location ia aa good at 
Anyone.*' 

In May the Devils 'ake Pioneer Froaa remarked in 
leferecce to religiuui obiervrB«€ff: *'8tra»g€r6 ciming 
to i)ev?|j» Lake gcperally bjiig ^ilb tlinu the im- 
preiisioa that little attei:iic>n j» paid to leligioD and 
feligioua dniiei* hsre. ho greater delusion eonM be 
♦utertained. Religious Bcrvicea are held eacbBuadaj, 
at 11 o'clock. Prcfcchirp ie b*ld at the t-ffieepf <:k>«Bei! 
& Katou. At 8 o'clock Suuday School ia held at th© 
residence of Mr. Dana. On Tucaday evening the Y. 
M. O. A. hold the Tveekly praytr aeetii;g; to all of 
ihfse service* the public ii invited." 

May Ji7th Vtartiett eipetU'riced a div^tetroui fire. It 
broke «iut hbtut ore o'cUck ii- tbt* naorsiirg but was 
coi^ fired to one lilork. About twenty five bnildlnga 
were destroyed, the loae being eatimated at $80,000. 
Among the buildloge burned were a bank, three hotel*^ 
Jbardware, dry gcvth end olbf r etorca. The place never 
emrunfed to n ucb pCter wards, A^^e Jrfiuence oi the rail- 
rred narr^pf n^rrt rpMler telrj» li» ffvrrrf I AkotA« fouJr 
lb ilea efMf fitgrad io the toUowiog euffimerc 



mi AAiiLLf msatokt og tub Dmnu laxi oouhtbi 



There was a Rmall goverDmeot iieainer on th« Uko 
^robabljT brought th«re that, spriug, but it waa littU 
used, Cnpt. Heermaa put together the ** Arrow of Mil* 
WAuke«" at bis boat yard ou the so called Kock iilaiNl 
aud got it afloat ia the lake May 28d, Meaovvhilf he 
had a larger iiteaoaer under coustructiou, which, when 
launched, was uaaied the "Mionie H." The boat jAr4 
Itad been prurided with a portable sawmill. 

At Uraud U«rbor the proprietor« of the tovaail* 
were £. A. Heudrick»on, nn ntturoey of St* I'aul; A, 
Holman, oi the Hx. f . M. & M. Kailroad; A. J. Wiirti^ 
K WagDis and C L. Ureeuoiij^u, operating •• a syB^i* 
sate, having scripted IHO iicree which contained Dm 
tvwoHiie. 

dettli^rs had marked out their claimt ae they eo«14, 
2;ui befurti the end of Mny, Majcir Ueo. U. Beardaief 
began the survey of sixteen townships in UameeyOown* 
ty Hui a uew land office district was created. At thai 
tim« a U. A. Ltndi)dice wim \^ process of erection at 
OeTiU Lake. 

In Juue the country an both sides of the Masfaite 
Coulie, a slough that drained from the north to Uevilt 
Uke, WHS attrKcting attention ai^d numbers of seltlera 
arere swaroiinu; ittto it Irv'^ng and Mills Church of 
Larimore were ftttr»ctfcd to this it^glou and started thai 
«ummer the villaj^e of Churchy Perry some twenty nilet 
west of OeTils t.akt City. At that time, when the 
waters of the lake backed into the coulie, a ferry wac 
eoaiBteined there, but the eouHe is now drj. 

During the lame summer the Northern Pacific Rail* 
tfoad eumpany were construct tog a branch line north 
from Jmm^Ufwm whi«h wevld et^tf^ <(he veti ead of Um 



-l »l I 1 II — — i— — — — »^»»1 ■■ ——I ■ 

lAke. Mftoife«tly but ooe towo could araouot to mueh 
to that iocatioQ, but four attempted ttmnsitet wer* 
located upon v^hich a little buildicg was done. One of 
these totrneiteK appropriated the name Mintiewaukaa, 
and DeTiis Lake City anade do effort to secure it whil« 
\h9 way was open to accumpliab that measure owing to 
•the failure of the temporary towusite of tkat name 2| 
oiilfs distant, and btcce has retuinfd a itaace wbicli 
0)atiy people have thought to be objectionable aimI 
;^bich doe8 not even conyey the correct meaning of tb« 
Iridian name of the Iske. The railroad company favor*>' 
ad Micnewaukan Hud no thxt iettlement became tb« 
'T)U8{ijef)e point of that section o1 eountry and the county 
^eat of Heiieou Ccuniy. During settlement times »or« 
importance was attached to the fatnre of any priaeipa) 
U)ivQ thni might arise at tb(? vest end of the Uke IhaA 
%'&9t really warranted. 

While the ^ettlementii »ilready mentioned were in 
prcictAs of deveh {ontne, th^Ff <Mii5 ai^o (orooing to the 
^outh of ChurchM i<erry ah unique community composed 
i^f perM)Of< <if n izfd natUnRlity, This was located on 
the perin^ule ccmnoiily calltd Grshanis Iplacd, at ono 
tin.e 6tJfjpi>p<'d to have been wh<»lly surrounded by 
Water. Kiit squBttprw, (>eebirf c'epirhlle locations, found 
that this tract W8i» joined U) (l( f:r>r(h ^bort' of the lake 
by a D«^ck of land. The top^grnphy of the peninsula ia 
somewhat dtfieifrt frcn tbr.t of the adjacent country^ 
being gently rotiiof; with an eminence higher than the 
n^i in its central ipert. The tract contains between 
6f T*n pnr! eipFt fctere c flcf it6 i^e eerly settlers 
found partprf it t eerily tin t«ered. Th? Fort Totten 
AiiHtfrr:^ nkcr^miui teteinfcf « tract of ftbou* l,S{Dp 



ft nkMLf atavmr dy vm^ v%,ytU9 lakk coujrtmv 

•^ores of timber, At the soutbero end of tb« peoiosnU to 
foroish wood for the twe of the irarrisoD. Octa?e La* 
Rose and Johu 0. Hunter settled on the peBioeola im 
.1880 nod by the year 1883 it hud been quite generally 
occupitd by eettlere ivitb their familiet. 

iu lochtiaf^ the railroad irota Bartlett to Defile Laks 
;he surveyor acd hit* 8F£i8i6nt»,cca.pIeted running the 
Un« on tbe l(>tb ot h\iiy, A grading force wae put od 
And in May were in tuii i>»!i>g with this part of the 
A^ork. in June the track laying force were on hand, 
i'ullowed up day by .day hy the construction traini tbnt 
brought from Minoeputa, u6 (ast ae needed, the raila, 
U^fi ii,ud timbers for culverts. The rails were not etee), 
but partially worn wrought iron ones which had been 
taken np on the coaipany's lineA in Minnesota, which 
in those yearB were being relaid with vteel rails, ltf.i8 
heavy than those cow used, tcf the days of big locomo* 
Uvea had not yet corne. in track laying the company 
ti^ed fievfrel two Ftory bt ardirg CBTb to hrotie the men 
and tbeie wei«? kebt pust c^d forward »o as to rest at 
night rear th<> end of the track. On Sunday evening, 
iuly 1, 1883, the track reached Devils Lake. A train of 
five cf^achec «»8b run to that point ou the 4th, and after 
»ide trac kp were laid and scR'e other work done regnlar 
Uains began arriving Monday. July 16tk. Tbeireaftor 
tU^ town begap bt^itdiuf! up at c oaoderata paee. 



A' 



CHAPTER X. 

THE WARD BROTHERS TRAGEDY 

B • prctiniD&ry to th« r«Utioo of th* MMtiantioa 
» of tb« Ward brotherB at the bandt of a nob aaaff 
DeTiis Lake Uity on Hundtiy tfcoiof , April «, 188», 
aome retiew of the iioinediate baekgrouod of this dot 
plorabla, not to aay atrocious sffair, will aot b# onl of 
place. The land oortb of Devil* lake wat then ^rt of 
the public doBain, oeither feuiveyed nor In market, but 
open to appropriation by Hquatters pro?ided that they 
improved it and establiflhcd a rebideuee upon it. But 
ao iiquattcr wai entitled to claim any more than tb» 
qaartor-section he had chosen and occapied by putting 
wp at lea«t a cUlm shnnty on it to indicate residenee. 

As e^rly as the fall of 1882 rumor* of claim jumping 
in the Devils Iske ccurtiy ^••fe vieaed i^ith cooeero 
by ail fair minded re»ld«»ntf«. Then Terry's military 
order stirred up a feeling of indignation until reteinde4 
and caused loss of time to some who bad coiA.menced io 
build good houses be.'.>re wloter set in. Moreover, Ibo 
tragedy was coiRci'tent with the county tr^iubles of tho 
same spring, %tn\ with cUim shack huroiogs to render 
olaims vacant if not iffRedifctpJy r«f)l6c*d (provided 
auch things were done) together with disputes concern, 
ing rights to claims; hII coi)join«d gave many of tb* 
people a sense of insecurity and cooseqnent irritation. 
Put those iratters did not justify lie iisntcn ocnrder 
that was perpetrated, which tragedy eeeme to have b«e« 
the c«»ltt>iratlng episode of the troubles akteadiog (bt 
settUo»eiftf of the Rorth ebore of the lake. 



The ▼ictims of the crag edj war* Fred Ward, age 80,, 
*q4 Uharles Ward, age 25. Tnej were the 1008 o( Dr. 
K. i". Ward who na» a well kuowa eitiaea of Cliicag*. 
The oldest ol the two brothers bad a wife aid child hm- 
Cbicago. Both were stated to have been graduate! af 
;b9 We»t PciL'. Mihtnrjr ecbool, Fred baTifig beea * 
^lasDUiat^ Qi Lieut. Creel, who testified that tbey bora a 
good reputaxioD. Ibej came into the coontry in to»- 
siectloB i>i!b the iJartlctt tc^tt^ite. Tbe accosBl 9$ 
ibi» uu)b affair wbicb io«)ow3 is from tbe Larinorei 
^iocei^rot April i:6, four dti^s niter tbe tragedy. At 
that time tbe er.d ol tbe ruUroad was at Bartlett aa^ 
tb«>Te w»s no telegraphic cotrmunication nearer tk# 
*v«!Ue oJ '.Ae trageoj tb*r^ Tort Totteu. 

*'\)n Tiundtij aip;ht tbe any of Larimore was tbrowA 
into 9i>ai« ficiienient b>' the' telegram from Fort Tottaa^ 
that Fred and dbarle^ Ward bad both been killed be- 
tween l)«7i!8 Lake CiJj arid Creel City» on tbe aortic 
tbure o( bevils* Ube. Kuccor^ nere coLflicting, and to 
tbe dire certainty of tb(; murder of tbe boys was addeik 
?he annoying dilficulty ot obtaining any reliable infor^ 
ri^ation. W b^n luetdtiy'B train arrirtd ^'dings were 
sagerly "oujcht from pa^p^nger? from tbe west and a 
large amober of cop5#^5 of tbe Barflett Timsa were toIA 
arnong tki? eager croTvd, and from iLe published aecoant 
and froi:n parties in fr< n- ihi- t/c^ri the meager inloras** 
*AoB is gained. 

"The Ward brothers bfcd bxnlt a chanty ob a elain 
^bere one Bell bad a abanty. It is claimed by some 
ihat tbe Ward brothers aere the original squatters 00 
ithe land nod bad bfen crc?(ded off by later elaimantt. 
It is said that the Ward brothers ware B«ti6«d (o Imwv 



THB WARD BBCTRKIfK* TRAGRDY 95 



Sunday, but refused. That nigbit. so goes the report 
earrent, the shinty was surrounl'^i by a large party 
armed with Wincheater rifl^ra, when they were agaio 
ordered to leave and on refusal a volley from the Win- 
cheaters was poured into the abanty, rervilting in the 
death ol Fred Ward, (/'hrtriea VVard started out, and it 
is aaid, tried to tret awny, but was shot in the back of 
the neck. A young man nAtned Klliott wae ataying 
with them that Di^sbl, ^ho, pays the Bartlett Times, 
af er the ^huotiIJg fc» d tubhidt-d, darted through the 
door and srarted to run, but wa^ caught, and after be- 
ing badly kicked and beaten, was uacerimonioualy told 
10 'j^ii' which ne did witb-jut Htaudiug on the order of 
io doing. Klliott »1k) f-a\a that it was undoubtedly 
ivhil9 trying? i<. escaps, iha'. Charles received the two 
iho'..s in ihe bhck which U/n inatea hia life. After 
kiihr.g ihe tw(. brotiityp lb? crf.^^d prcceed«-d to clean 
out the shinty, lemovinc ih^ contents to the uutside, 
and also carrying out bied Ward'? body. One inform^ 
antsays that niore than thirty bullet holes cac b« 
counted in the board siding oi the shanty. 

'The bodie. were taken to Minnewaukon [the plac^ 
of that name 2J n)!!e« froni Devils Lake] and their 
Jiitads in i^hivr^v aiC. ehf^htie tekgrnphed, also 
PoHtniaster Wocdhae .>f Li* ■imore, who was an old friend 
of the family. Mr. GoccLue cent out with Deputy 
Sheriff Bailey on Va^sday'a freight; nnd the former 
came in Wedi-ebday morning with the bodies and went 
on to Chicsgo with thfm On Wednesday Deputy 
\VMl«h went out in obedienca to a telegram, to assist io 
making arreats. 

•\K wn'< rumoeed that a large number were ilretdy 
under arre«t, but yesteiday's iateU news denied that 



*nythin{( bad been done. A card from Mr. Bailtj o». 
ArrUiog At btrtlott stid bo did ojt koov the auU 
ihiDgi were in, but would ^et to the tcene m ioob m 
^oMible. 

**Mt. Goodhue on ftrririog here yeiterdaj eaid h« 
hjad himself learned that Charlei had eame oBt of ih« 
ehaDty and earreodered, but waa ahot by the erow4 
aflerwurda. 

"I'ublic sentiment is aumewhat divided, aome thiak* 
iofr the Ward boya jumped Bell's claim, while a few 
others say the Wards were there first. Creel aays they 
jui<«ped the claim, and that he supposes the 'cititea'e 
protective at>sociatioii' is respossible (or their takiBgefl. 

'' ihe statement most current is that the Warda had 
i^het before jumped the claim and had been drives off, 
but hnd never given up the idea of holding it. Ob 
f^unday they put another shanty on it, and at nlghl 
»rheo Bell came up to hiK owu shiftoty, which waa near 
at hand, be was hred oo and driven off by the Warde. 
Ue then went to Creel City tor reinforcements, and ob 
the return of the party the battle ensued. 

*'Mr. LaHhelle who found the bodies, ie in Larimor* 
and says that when the crowd came up and ordered thB 
boys off, Charles came to the door and fired five ahota 
when the shootiofi: became general. He says therB le 
oo question that tbe Ward boys bad no right to thB 
claim and were doing wrung in going there, but that 
doea not Justify the murder. 

" Tbe affair is most lamentable, and aside from thB 
toss of life and anguish caused, will give tbe Devils LakB 
country a bad oamo It will take years to live dowB. 
Ihe K)Utder I9 iho fie^itioQate ouU%&« u( IhB daiv 



tam VABO BBOTiBSBe TBAOKDT 97 

j«nf iiift &nd WArring and bickering thai hai been go* 
iog an At OeTils Lake for sisTeral months, aod all the 
partiei engaged in the recent troubles will be held, by 
public opinion, at leaat, partly retpoaeible for Iho 
crime." 

Ac inqueat waii toon held at DeTlls Lake City. Tho 
jurors drawn in the caae were, tor Fied Ward, T. C* 
Wolcott, J. B. B^toii and Smith Paesett; for Oharleo 
Ward, JaoQes E. Reed, E. V. Hartoo and Frank Alei* 
ander. A telegraphic message from Fort Totten •tate4 
relative to the testimony of a witness: '*The f«Ctt aro 
that when the mob came to the shanty, the door waa 
opened for them lo enter by Fred Ward, when a mao 
whose name 1 have ft>rgotten, caught him by the collof 
and draifged him outside into the crowd, when the mob 
drajEged him around the corner of the building, wheM 
•ome one shot him in tha b»ck with a shot gun. Eighty 
•hot were counted in bin back. Then, tox beifig ssti^ 
fied with this, cootlier party rbot bioi sgaio with a re^oK 
▼er while down. Chsrlf s W srd knowing his brothcT wao 
killed, commenced to fire Mt the mob at the door. They 
returned the Are with a volley, for the building is liter- 
ally covered with huHet holes. Charlew, seeing be ttoodf 
no "(bow, o Bd«- a brrfk cut cf tie <ivvt sr.d rm), Hegol^ 
about thirty pactf trr.ni the r^rrr »h/n fcne ope kkol 
him in the back of the neck with a Winchcater rifle, 

"They then took Elliott and made him get dowa tm 
big knees end beg for mercy or die like the othera. Ho 
fcepped and while doirg so, the crowd eommoneed to 
kirk and beat him, bruising bim up pretty badly, 
]M>«jnr Uline aaid <don*t kill him.' lliey then told hiiB 
to run tot h, which he did in food aba^" 



Tho meMige further stated thftt one of the mob w«t 
wounded iu the mrro. This was « persoi of the B«m« 
9t McWeeney. After getting out the cooteots ot thii 
building, sooie of the mob were going to set fire to It, 
but Uline again iuierposed, saying "It was bad enougli, 
save the building." Then looking at the bodies tbt 
mob swore and left. 

A p»ri of the ?erdicl of the jury was to the effect tbftl 
*tfae «uid weapons were fired leloniously by partiea 
onkoown to this jury, members of an armed mob, woal 
cf whojB are hired bj the Creel City Townaite Com* 
j^any." As is usual in the cano ot mob affairs it beeoBiet 
tiiiTi^uh, if not impoAsibie, to fix indiridua) guilt upoa 
any special party for the death o/ any particular par* 
40Q. Collectively tht« men comprising tbo mob niighl 
¥e wholly or in pari kaowu. 

At \fiuQi a doten mtu were pluced under arreit and 
znost of them were taKeu to l*'ort Totten, tut tb« military 
authorities* declined to receive them as priftouers, to thay 
were released on buii, .lud^e Benuett^, of i>evil« Lake, 
fixing the 9uni *i» S2 0(K) tu each cmm\ Tbode implicate 
*d were C«!?it. h Uline,* Wiliie.rn C. Fftrritstust.. John 
Bell, Hug^h McL*rkr_T, VViiliam l^edford. George Car* 
penter, Patrick McVVeency. hernia Mdlloy, Bickham 
W. Lrir, ThomaB Kurnfi. l^k-t [uvpir. «r«i John Cole, 
In the long run, none of the ^i»!plicated parties ••re 
•^ver punished or the CHse farther iave-dtigated. 

During the fir*t week the detaiit> of this mob affair 
were somewhat corfiicting < vi ft g to the ieolatito of 

• C 8, tTiine was a native of th« «»ate of New Tork and waf 
born in ISSS From IK7I to Iff2 be wa* rUI t of w«y afreet for the 
Pt. P. M & KT (ipeat KoTthenil Railroad Oompany. He teok «p 
hlM retideoM at DoTlls Lake where he died May II. tM» 



7BS W4IIO nmyraw»r6 tB^oKor ^'9 



D«?ila Lake and Creel City »t the lime and lack of 
direct communication. 'Vh&t the Ward brothers fired 
apon Bell aeema to rest upcm his own atntement and he 
Has himself the inciting party that started out the inub. 
The Pioneer of May 3 published at least two additiooal 
hems relati?e to the case. •*>¥. N. Moore was in from 
DeTils Lake City Monday [April 80]. He tays tht 
general impression out there is that the Ward boys had 
as good a right to the claim they were murdered on ai 
anybody; that they thought, and doubtless correctly, 
that a vacant claim existed there, «nd that while they 
may have been reckless in going there under threats •! 
8uch a gang they did nothing dishonorable." 

One raport was that Bell had built his shanty oo the 
line and was trying to hold t\ffo quarter sections which 
teBder^a hiM claim to titber ot them void, unless h« 
declared in favor of one of them to the exclusion of tb« 
other. 

"As evidence is gathtred the blackness of the crime 
committed at Devils lake becomes more apparent It 
was a wilful, diHbolical nuirder that robbed Dakota of 
the lives of two worthy citirena, and robbed two komea 
in C;hicago of most valued and cherished meMbers. 
The roost reliable accounts indicHte that the Ward 
brothers had as good a right to t^e claim as anybody^ 
that Bell's shanty was ou the line and he was attempi- 
ing to hold two quarter sections." 

The funeral of the Ward brothers in Chicago wa» 
onu<«uaUy larre snd imposing. Under date of Jur» 24, 
l>*h8. Or K. P. Ward wrote to a friend In North Da- 
kota! probably L. P. (Goodhue, of which ioltof tht Col- 
ic wi«g extract was published; 



HOO BABLT HIStOS? Of Y^B DEYILfl tAK« XX)UIITBT 

**My dear frieod—Mftoy times in the mids^ oi the 
laiADy calls upon my tiaoe, have my thoughts been of 
shttt far away place where cruel, murderous hands 
deprived our loving and beloved sons of precious lif« 
»nd fond parents ot the lagt motive for life. My poor 
wife l8 inconsolable. Her health is very poor and th* 
is frightfully broken down, about as bad as at firat, 
WiJl the fiends ever be brought to justice? What eaa 
ihe people of l>akota think of temporizing with such ft 
eri^ne under the name ot 'manslaughter' when thetesti- 
isuony of the mob themselves is convicting o( murder?'* 

The claim ou which the Ward brothers were killed 
«as long held in contest. Frrm the local land office 
At Devils I,ake the case was carried up to the General 
Lawd Office at Washington and was finally referred to 
the Secretary of the Interior who, in September, 1885, 
affirmed that it belonged to the heirs o( the Ward boy*. 



APPENDIX 

it appears that Nicollet's first aamc was jMeph, instead •! 

|,eaa. Chapter IV was prioteti last year at which time the 
nrror was not known to the puplisher. It appear! that ia 
•ome way there was confounding of name with the earlier Jea* 
Nicollet mentioned on page 5. It is n*t knewa who hrat 
made the errur, but it was subsequently repeated ia vari««t 
American publications. In 1894 Horace V. Winchell (soa af 
N. H. Winchell quoted pp. 37, 3S) iBTestigated Freach saarcea 
relative to Nicollet and aiscovered the common error. Tk<[ 
full nacue ot the explorer was Joseph Nicholas Nicollet, Mt 
be usually signed his name J. N. Nicollet. 

Wright County p. 44, should read Meeker County. 

In the fall of 1S82 Fargo papers gave coosideri^ble space tit 
afiatrs in the DeviU lake countr?. This suggests a source of 
tntorcQaiion tor any historian, earlier than any papers were 
piloted ai Devils Lake and other pointy provided the files of 
l^e Fargo papers escapee the hie in June, 1893, which likely 
irould haye been the ca&e if kept in fire- proof vaults. 

The Great Northern Railroad nystem has at different time* 
^orne four names. It w8& chartered in 1856 under the name 
Minnesota &JPacific, but no ifils were laid until 1863 whea 
ten miles of track were laid from St. Paul to St. Anthoay. 
In 1863 and 1864 this line began to tie extended up the valley 
toward St. Cloud. Tbe roao oow took the name of St. Paul 
Sc. Pacific. To equip this andjotber lines that began ia the 
sixties to radiate from St. Paul and Minneapolis, rails, ears 
and engines all had to be brought up the Mississippi, proba% 
bly from LaCrosse, then the nearest down river poiat where 
any railroad from the east terminated. In 1867 the liae t« 
Breckenridge was started from Minneapolis and reached Re4 
river in October, 1871. A cooaectioa with Wiaaipes k»«itf 



102 SAJiLl BtnOHV uf tiitA UkYlL« LAKJi OOVVf St 



b)e«a made tht r««d, which was developisf; ittto • >y«te», If 
iS^9 took thea»<iie St. Pavl, Vf laeapolii & liamt»b* R«il^ 
AOftd. Tii) irii^.iitijTi hafiuj bscooK; ia»pplicablc •vlsf 
colbeftlvjiaiie 9f tie i»tin liae :rtst««rd, the a«a« •! Ik* 
Artte<zt Irat ehacged to Great t^^rthero in 1890. Tke ead •{ 
f(h<i traek rrmtcioed at DeTtls Lake from 1883 !• 1886 m4 
4lQri&g the latter year wm p«»bedi trcst to Gaaaaia* C««U«| 
'.\stn tttlea bajoad Miaot. 

'$«rl7 io Jalf, 1883, the raiiYoitd maaageaeat served AotiM 
rv^Barilett that when re>(;alar trams begkn rttanisK to Devito 
Xahe, Bartlett woald ao longer be recbgaited at a atatioa ol 
^^e rsilroad; that trains would not atop there aad that tk« 
^iRpo: would bs fooTcd and th^: side tracks takea apb Tht 
^Ottb of Hartlett utia indi)gtiant atii j»rocar«d from the Di** 
ViCt Court aa iaJDaction so ihaa the ferma of the raaadatt 
"•vr^ never earned into eHec^ 

%t the time traio9 began r^bniog to Devila Lake a Maga 
«a« beinn ran from Larimore to Fort Tottea twice a «ac,^, 
fltartiog from Larimore Moadnya and Tharsdays. The Hoc 
{Qok in Adler, Harri»bur(^, Waoida^ika and jcrataleai. It 
j^rvbabif did not cootione l6Dg after regisUr traiat ^g<^^ 
Hianing to the lake. 

^a cxcotf ioci from Griw;^ 1^ork» aail Mher poiats va* teaia 
10 Devils Laktr bv soecinl trt'iTJ, We^aenday, Aagttit 3, 1883* 
Ca-pt. Hecimaci's jtetre>bc»l *&« ttt-w tc «8«s en the lake, aa4 
%hft cccursioQ party were tnltsti to Minnewaakaa at the veil 
»ad of the lake where aooe ttccs waa epeat pickniekiag «• 
ahore. Atvoathalf an hour was also spent at Fart Tattea 
where the eccatsioalsts had an opcrortanity to iaspact tha pas^ 
buildings. Fro« thai point a ret«.ra was mada ta DaviU 
Lake, arriving at 7:30 p. m, where the traia was ready fair 
Kfae homeward part at the trip. T4mtf -Mg^t ticketf fft^^to 
aacarsioo were said at baitaiarfti 



AlfFBHDlX lOS 



Tke foUoiring sketch c*aceraing the F«rt Tottea Indiai 
j«ravaas was written from Devils Lake in April, 1898, and 
^at to the pttblisher for use in the Larinore Pioneer in •••- 
icctioo with some North Dakota sketches, and was so %u4 

a,t that time. 

•*The folJowiag, which was related to me toy Hon. Frank 
Palmer, of Fort Totien, may be of interest to yon. 

**Mr. Palmer says the ori(;iaal iatenlion of the railroad 
pompany was to call what is now known as 0)ata, Stickacj* 
9Dd the station now called L&rtmore was designated as 0)ata 
00 the early railroad folders. At the time when Ojata or 
^tickoey, was the terminus of the road, the latter was under 
contract to deliTcr a large quantity of goTernmenl suppliet 
tor Fort Totien at Ojata. From this point the Indians hanled 
the supplies to Fort Totten. Complaint was made that they 
were coinpellsd to haul the goods further than the contract 
called for, and a delegation ficm Fort Totten, among tk« 
nt^mbei being Mr. Paln^irr, went to St. Paul to see what the 
road was willing to do about it. They went to Mr. Hill and 
explained that the roRd had agreed to deliver the goods at 
Q)ata [Larimore], instead of which they were being delivered 
at Stickney. Mr. Hill called up General Manager Manvel 
and found that the representations of the Fort Totten delega' 
tion were correct. He expressed hia regrets, told them it waa 
impossible to pet iron, and p ode the road's contract good ky 
requesting Mr. Mac?el to ctacge tte Dkice of Stickney to 
Ojata. Thereafter the supplies for Fort Totten were deliver 
sd at Ojata, according to agreement. The letter of the con- 
tract was fulfilled, but the poor Indians had to hanl tkeif 
goods some twenty miles further than tbey anticipated.** 

[In l88«, when the end of the railroad was at Larinoro, 
the ^upolies were delivered there aad a temporary kailding 
■ras put np to house theas after being unloaded fro* tktcarf.} 



404 ftAMLT HmOftT OF THB OKVTL8 LAKE OOUHTET 

lo 1914 15 the Devili Lake Journal pablished ao esteosive 
lig| of North Dakota stories, eacti of moderate leocth, deal> 
iag with early times in the Territory and State. The foHowiag 
va« No. 73 oi the seriei : 

WaMDUSKA TOWNSITB 

"If any present day real estate dealer of North DakoU 
donbts the ability aiad enterprise of land speculators back m 
the ttrritottc^l dB>t cf Dskcta let hin go back to the record* 
•f tbc early '80s to be convioced of tbe *buca' spirit of Dm* 
kota'a first zeal estate deak^s. In 1882 Saw Thai, after- 
wards Sk well known mercbant and land owner of Lakota, 
forsQcd a partnership with M. 1. Mendelson for the eiplo>ta«> 
iion of the towDcite ot Wsadutka, which was hctalcied far 
and Tfide as a coming metropolir. on tbe north shore of Stamp 
lake, the curious body of water, cast of tbe larger De? ils lake 
which has standing in its bed innumerable trees of consider* 
able afe. The Milwaukee Republican in the early part ol 
1883 had the following to say regarding Wsmduska: 'Messrs. 
S. Thai and M. I. Mendelson, cfficers oi the Wamduska 
Townsite Company uf Dakota, have just returned from Chi- 
cago, where an addititnal syndicate was formed, comprising 
some of Chicago's snd 3ni)«£ukeY'f influrntial ard wealthy 
business ntr, t»i<ha cepit^l of $50.ccc." Tbe Fcpublica* 
goes 00 to ?ay that a lire c( plesitiie steatneis will be estab* 
Hshed on the lake and that contract has been let to D«ddt 
3c MeChesney of Grard f crka tor thf iranulactore of a half 
million of brick for use in buildlr^ business blocks in the sew 
city of V^ smdttska. Also tbe virtuous, confidence- inspiring 
statement is nade that lots in tbe new tcwnsite will be sold 
only t« actnal settlers who will build substantia! bnildingi o« 
them. Of course ^ airdufka went tbe way of many a boo« 
town of tbe early times, its Isck of railicad facilities sms 
cauiing It to be denrted. However, the a^v« aod eatkuias* 



ikFPKVOIX 105 

»t Harth Dakota't Uod men is eKemplified in the Milwaukee 
i^epttbUcaa's account of that earif day jomraey •£ Thai and 
If eadeUoa to intereit capital in the *beatttif«l towaiite of 
Wamdaska,' which was described in tome of their adveititiac 
aaterial as being 'unbroken bj ridges or mixed with aad* 
holes.' " 

fi, B. Heerman had this comoianicatioo in the DevUt 
Lake Jotirnal, April 9, 1916: 

**For the benefit of the farmers it might be well to saf that 
my diary shows 33 years. The ilth of this month (1883) the 
snow was one foot deep all oyer the woods on Rock island 
and I could not haul a load of boat material from the end of 
She track at Bartlett. The 13th a light misty rain, the 14th 
was cold, the i6th Tery cold, the i8th the snow was sefCP 
feet deep between the place of building the Minuie H and 
the shore of the lake. The 19th was cold and cloudy and 
freezing. April 30 the United States surveyors were survey- 
ing Creels bay and tr»ced their chains over the ways eon* 
stiucted to launch the Minnie H, while the snow had reached 
a depth of 3)^ feet io the Rock Island woods. After the 
above dates spring came rapidly and the most of the lake vaa 
t>pen May 3d. The nearest station was Bartlett." 

[Caot, Heerman evidently refer* to a given locality infia* 
enced by wind blown snow. On the prairies, where burnei 
•ver in the fall, but Uttle snow collected all through a wintet 
AS it was apt to be kept scoured off by winds. J 

On the neat page, io moch reduced form, is a specimea •! 
newspaper boom advertisiog of May. 1883. The origiaal wat 
four coU-nns wide runnitig down the whole length of a page, 
the columns beirp «i>4 inches in length. One may woode» 
at the bolHnpss. rot to say f«uHanty, of such efiorts which «■» 
characteristic of the year t88z io eaatdo North Ctkoti. 



HARRISBURGH 

ON STUMP L AKe 

CpMlNG METROPOLIS OF NORTH DAKOTA. 

COUNTY SKAT OF RAMHEY COUNTY 

AND THB PROaPfiCTlVK 

CAPITAL OF NORTH DAKOTA 

Tk^c ?riocipal Watering and Summer Resort in the 

Northwest 

Tli« loun is bfntttifully lucatcd un a fine elevafion dn tll« 
shore of thin mttgnificerit sb«i«( »f vmter lo well knowo far 
azi^ «rid9 as Stump Uke. T.h«) Rite in p»rtiy composed of 
A bf>&uti)ul onk strove nnd tbe bftUoce high »od dry prai* 
7ie, aiinatvd nboui thr cruter vmy on tbe Murtb side. Tba 
MiinitobA railrond krtfpirji; on the nnine tide as Lerimorep 
%ill ccme strsiKbt ta the cc'Qter of tbe (uwsnite, beifig is 

T. 151 R. 60 
The coantrj around for twelve to Hfteen laile* li settled tut i rely 
by wealthy Americans and Canadian* tBAkiog one of the besl 
rarroaading* a cnunir)- could desire. The soil it p^r escelleaec» 
*nd its rOUinj? surface will tcv<?r aiiwit of maody stTeett. The 
iftke is i8 miles loDg by i^ Tride, witbi hlgU, bold shores and 
Mkirted with timber. We are asjurwi by the Maaitoba Rmilread 
CofTpacy that they will enakr Ha» tisburg their termiaas for the 
Xtt^mer. 

HARRIS & WALSH, Townsite Proprietors. 

>jrentP: Walsh, Maher &Cox and Capt. Alex.Gri«r«, 
Crppd Forks; Jud IsVonre. lembins. and Elder & 
Co., Grand Forks and Fargo. 



l-bFe21 



I 



